Rhode Island cannabis testing requirements

Required tests

• Potency
• Pesticides
• Residual solvents
• Heavy metals
• Microbials
• Water activity

ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation

Not required. 216-RICR-60-05-6 does not require ISO/IEC 17025. RIDOH licenses a lab after an inspection and requires proficiency testing from a RIDOH-approved provider that is itself accredited (6.7.1, 6.12).

Notes

• Rules: 216-RICR-60-05-6 (RIDOH, effective December 7, 2023), adopted by the Commission in 560-RICR-10-10-1, 1.13 (effective May 1, 2025).
• By statute the Commission licenses labs in consultation with RIDOH (R.I. Gen. Laws 21-28.11-11); under 560-RICR-10-10-1, 1.13(B), RIDOH continues to issue the licenses.
• The Commission took over the medical program duties of the Department of Business Regulation's Office of Cannabis Regulation (560-RICR-10-10-1, 1.1(C)).
• Plant material: potency, microbials, water activity (0.6 or less), pesticides and metals. Extracts and concentrates: potency, residual solvents when solvents were used, pesticides and metals.
• Potency: delta-9 THC, delta-8 THC, THCA, CBD and CBDA; potency testing of infused products may be waived when batches stay consistent.
• Microbials: limits for total aerobic count, yeast and mold, total coliforms and bile-tolerant gram-negative bacteria; pathogenic E. coli and Salmonella not detected in 1 g.
• Metals: arsenic, cadmium, lead and mercury. Pesticides: 63 listed pesticides and growth regulators.
• Lab staff collect the samples; each batch stays quarantined until the Cannabis Tracking System clears it for packaging or sale (6.17).
• Lab licenses are issued after a RIDOH inspection and expire each December 31.
• No proposed testing rules were listed for RIDOH or the Commission when checked in September 2026.