Two cannabis-testing laboratories set to move into Pueblo
It has been more than five years since Pueblo County first started selling recreational marijuana, but for the first time, the city of Pueblo is expecting to bring in two recreational marijuana testing facilities to make sure cannabis products are safe and THC levels are as advertised.
As of now, both medicinal and recreational dispensaries are required by law to test their product for THC levels and harmful substances. To do so, dispensaries in Pueblo would have to get their product tested up in Denver or Boulder.
The recreational marijuana testing facilities would be owned by two separate private companies.
One of those would be run by Nordic Analytical, which already has a lab up in Denver. Nordic tells KRDO they have purchased a building at the corner of Santa Fe Avenue and Northern Avenue, near the Bessemer neighborhood of Pueblo.
However, what exactly is changing for consumers and dispensaries? One dispensary owner tells KRDO: not much.
“Everyone is excited we are getting labs in Pueblo. It’s not really a big deal,” said Jim Parco with Mesa Organics, a dispensary in Pueblo County.
Parco says this move is all about convenience, at least for Nordic Analytical.
“They are basically taking advantage of building a second location in Pueblo to reduce logistics. They don’t have to drive back and forth between Pueblo and Denver,” Parco said.
The city of Pueblo is also a big winner in this. Giving dispensaries all across southern Colorado a new location to do business keeps more money inside Pueblo.
“Colorado Springs has so many marijuana businesses as well and also don’t have a lab,” Parco pointed out. “If you live in Colorado Springs, would you prefer to drive to Denver or to Pueblo? So the fact that Pueblo is getting two labs does make it interesting.”
Kimia Mahmoodi, the CEO and President of Nordic Analytical, says she is excited for the expansion into Pueblo. She hopes to provide more career opportunities for people in the community by making the move.
Mahmoodi hopes to have the laboratory up and running as early as May of this year.
As for the second private company moving into Pueblo, it is unclear. However, city officials tell KRDO the second potential location is the old Pizza Hut building on the 3000 block of N. Elizabeth Street.
