Pot testing lab fudged numbers about marijuana potency, Washington board says

A Washington lab’s license to test the quality of marijuana has been suspended after it was found to have falsified testing data and tried to destroy evidence of the crime, according to the Liquor and Cannabis Board.

Praxis Laboratory in Centralia lied about how much THC, the psychoactive chemical in marijuana that gets the user high, was in 1,200 samples of weed, a news release from the agency said. The lab labeled the products as having more THC than there actually was, according to the release.

“Labeling cannabis with falsely high THC potency levels is a form of consumer deception and is prohibited under Washington law,” the release said. “Because of this, cannabis users seeking more pronounced psychoactive results may choose to buy cannabis with higher levels of THC.”

Praxis told McClatchy News in an email that the accusations are false and provided a statement, which read in part:

“As many of you may have heard from the extremely misleading and inaccurate press release allegation put out by the WSLCB earlier today, Praxis Laboratory has been issued an emergency suspension and is not currently permitted to perform any laboratory analysis on any cannabis products. We are extremely disappointed in the agency’s obscene behavior. We would like to thank the LCB for attempting a death sentence on a small local business employing approximately 20 amazing people right before the holidays, during a recession … not to mention a pandemic. This is a clear cut case of agency overreach and libel and we will be pursuing legal action immediately and have already started the appeal process in the interim.”

The lab’s owner also allegedly “attempted to destroy evidence of falsified data in an effort to obstruct LCB’s ability to conduct a complete investigation,” according to the news release.

Praxis told McClatchy that the company did not attempt to destroy evidence but that a “disgruntled former employee stole data ... and hijacked access to the data.”

“[LCB] assert(s) that the lab has not provided any assisting evidence in their official statements, which is not true in the slightest. They have been provided with full access to everything they have asked for and more,” Praxis said in its statement. “There were no attempts of the owner or anyone else representing the laboratory trying to delete any evidence of any alleged wrongdoing.”

On Thursday, the agency issued a summary suspension of the lab’s certification, which is effective for 180 days, the release said. After the summary suspension is up, the agency “will seek permanent revocation of the ‘marijuana laboratory’ certification due to fraud and the subsequent investigation obstruction,” according to the release.

This story was originally published December 11, 2020 at 5:50 PM with the headline "Pot testing lab fudged numbers about marijuana potency, Washington board says."