Maryland cannabis testing requirements

Required tests

• Potency
• Terpenes
• Pesticides
• Residual solvents
• Heavy metals
• Microbials
• Mycotoxins
• Water activity
• Moisture
• Foreign matter
• Homogeneity
• Vitamin E acetate

ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation

Required. COMAR 14.17.08.01-.02: registration requires a certificate of accreditation from an ILAC-signatory body that requires ISO/IEC 17025. A provisional registration is open only to a lab already accredited in another jurisdiction while its Maryland accreditation is pending.

Notes

• Rules: COMAR 14.17.08 (lab registration and operations) and MCA's Technical Authority for Cannabis Testing, Rev 6.0 (effective February 2025), which has the force of law.
• Panel varies by product type (Technical Authority, Appendix A). Terpenes are required for flower, concentrates, vapes and tinctures.
• Microbials: TAMC, TYMC, E. coli, Salmonella; edibles also total coliforms, STEC and L. monocytogenes.
• Mycotoxins: aflatoxins B1, B2, G1, G2 and ochratoxin A (<20 ppb each). Metals: Pb, As, Hg, Cd, Cr (edibles: Pb, As, Hg, Cd).
• Moisture content for raw plant material; water activity for flower (<0.65) and solid edibles (<0.85); vitamin E acetate for vape cartridges.
• Each unique edible needs a content-uniformity test (10 units, within ±10%) and a 12-week stability study; other products get stability testing at 6-month intervals.
• Medical and adult-use testing are held to the same standards (Alc. Bev. & Cannabis Art. §36-408). MCA also runs a State Cannabis Testing Laboratory for proficiency testing and compliance checks (COMAR 14.17.08.07).
• Pending: informal draft amendments to COMAR 14.17 (comments through Sept 30, 2026) would codify that product failing the Technical Authority may not be sold; the lab chapter is not in the draft.