Suspended cannabis testing lab has appealed and will sue regulators, owner says

The owner of a shuttered Tyngsboro-based marijuana testing facility is pushing back against an order demanding his company cease operations and he says that he will see the commonwealth in court over an alleged lack of due process Assured Testing Laboratory CEO and founder Dr Dimitrios Pelekoudas described the Herald that his testing company has appealed the suspension order issued against his business by the Cannabis Control Commission over assertions they failed to disclose failed marijuana testing results to the state According to Pelekoudas contrary to the CCC s assertions his company has maintained the highest standards and complied with every instruction provided by the marijuana regulators including he says the new order to indefinitely close up shop There is a fundamental principle in this state and in this country that before you lose everything at the hands of the regime you have a right to appear in specific forum to defend yourself Assured Testing Laboratory a locally run business with employees did nothing wrong here posed no threat to the population and ensured that no contaminated products reached the arena he announced The issue at hand according to Pelekoudas isn t so much with the test results coming out of his lab but over the commission s inconsistent regulatory framework which leaves the rules of the road open to interpretation This is a simple disagreement about how material was being informed In fact the CCC s regulations were so unclear on this specific testing issue that it reissued regulations that became effective as of April of this year At all times Assured Testing Laboratory complied with all progressing regulations and orders he reported According to the suspension order signed by CCC Executive Director Travis Ahern the lab was noncompliant enough with reporting requirements that their actions pose an immediate and serious threat to the masses strength safety or welfare of the Commonwealth The order instructed the facility to cease operations as by July and gave them days to request a hearing over the commission s action The suspended lab was responsible for testing about of the marijuana certified as safe in the state according to commission figures The commission alleges that of marijuana samples analyzed by the lab in the year between April and April only or were located to contain mold or yeast above the state s statutory limits The rest of the state s testing facilities uncovered an average contamination rate of according to the suspension order When compared to the industry average lab samples analyzed by Assured were ninety times less likely to fail for the presence of Total Yeast and Mold the commission disclosed According to Pelekoudas not a single bit of contaminated product has been allowed to leave his lab That s the real question at the heart of this was there contaminated product that reached the field The answer is categorically no he commented The commission s actions according to the lab owner have resulted in the greater part of his employees going on furlough as the appeals process plays out In the meantime he commented he s filed for relief from the courts and will ask a judge to order the CCC to allow him to return to business and compensate his company for lost revenue It s the least the state could do at this point he mentioned The suspension Pelekoudas disclosed should not have been the first step in the process but should only have come as a last resort There was no due process In fact if you read the regulations this is an overstepping of their power he stated We re seeing this as a setback We expect to be operational again soon he added Even while trying to maintain a positive attitude about the eventual outcome of the situation the lab owner revealed the CCC s decision to single out his lab has to have other licensees wondering if they are next Because again they are just doing this claiming without proper evidence and entirely based on conjecture that our company poses a inhabitants healthcare threat he stated If we re such a peril why did their order include instructions to complete testing on the samples we d already received Pelekoudas has requested that the CCC provided his episode expedited review but commented that he s not sure when a hearing on the matter will be scheduled