The only cannabis testing laboratories in Mississippi are merging in what the companies are calling “a strategic move designed to ensure long-term financial viability and preserve Mississippi’s required cannabis testing infrastructure.” Steep Hill Mississippi and Alchemy Analytics said they will consolidate administrative and back-office functions, but each lab will maintain its own facility, team, instruments, methodologies, and compliance standards.
The combined company will be called Southern Precision Analytics LLC.
In a statement, Allen Whitt, CEO of Steep Hill Mississippi, said the “restructuring is about protecting the integrity and continuity of Mississippi’s medical cannabis program.”
“By joining administrative and back-office functions, we can reduce costly overhead and continue to focus on accurate, precise testing and customer service. This is the only practical path forward to ensure both labs remain financially feasible and that the cannabis industry in Mississippi continues operating without disruption. Without this restructuring, neither lab would have the operational scale necessary to remain viable in this market.” — Whitt in a press release
The labs noted that Mississippi’s medical cannabis program has so far fallen short of patient count expectations. Initially, officials projected about 100,000 patient cardholders by the third year of the program’s operations; however, the state currently has 69,476 active patient cardholders and, as a result, testing volumes have fallen well short of projections from when the market launched.
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