Have you ever wondered how legal marijuana products are regulated to keep you safe? The Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS) is responsible for licensing and regulating marijuana, marijuana retail sales, marijuana growth, and testing facilities in Arizona. That includes any licensed marijuana kitchens that manufacture edible products.
In 2010, Arizona voters legalized medical marijuana. In 2020, voters also legalized adult-use marijuana (sometimes referred to as recreational-use). Since then, ADHS has been tasked with holding marijuana facilities of both types accountable to our rules and regulations in order to keep consumers safe.
State law prohibits us from publicly releasing any identifiable information about medical marijuana facilities, which includes facilities that have dual licenses for both medical and adult-use marijuana facilities. Inspections related to the food permit of a marijuana facility are handled by ADHS Food Safety and are available through a public records request. Any information that identifies a medical marijuana kitchen (including facilities that are dual-licensed for medical and adult-use) will have to be removed, per state law.
ADHS inspects each licensed marijuana facility twice per year. These are thorough investigations performed by ADHS surveyors that may take up to two hours to complete. After each inspection, the marijuana kitchen receives a letter grade. The letters are E, S, N or U. The letter E means excellent, S is satisfactory, N means needs improvement, and U is unsatisfactory. The grading is determined based on the number of foodborne illness risk factor violations and good manufacturing practices found during the inspection.
Serious violations are defined as putting the health and safety of consumers or employees at risk. ADHS inspectors educate all licensees about the rules and regulations to get facilities into compliance, and prevent future violations.
In the event our inspectors do find a serious violation, we hold the licensee accountable. If an ADHS licensed facility has frequent priority violations that go uncorrected, the facility is in jeopardy of its license being revoked or suspended. The Department, consumers, and the media are notified swiftly of any potential contamination of marijuana products.
Whether purchasing medical or adult-use marijuana, patients and consumers have the right to request the certificate of analysis showing the product’s testing results. Products are tested for: microbial contaminants, heavy metals, residual solvents, pesticides, fungicides, and growth regulators.
To learn more about our marijuana kitchen program visit our website.
