It wasn’t so long ago that Florida did not have any lab testing regulations for the medical cannabis market. Now, EVIO Labs, a life sciences company focused on analyzing cannabis as a means for improving quality of life, has opened a lab in Broward County, with another opening scheduled for Gainesville in March. EVIO Labs is one of the nation’s leading providers of accredited cannabis testing, research, and consulting services; and more importantly, it has become the first cannabis laboratory in Florida to obtain ISO 17025 accreditation.

ISO 17025 is the highest-recognized quality standard in the world for calibration and testing laboratories. In order for an organization to be accredited in ISO 17025, its laboratory must be able to consistently produce precise and accurate tests, and must have implemented a rigorous quality management system.
 
Perry Johnson Laboratory Accreditation, Inc. (PJLA) provided the certification, following a complete review of EVIO Labs’ quality management system, 
along with its capability to perform potency and contaminant testing for cannabis products. Laboratories that achieve this accreditation have shown they have the proper tools, equipment and staff in place to provide accurate testing; they are performing at the highest standard; and they can convey confidence to end-users that the test results they receive are reliable.
 
The Florida Department of Health decrees that tests on medical cannabis be performed by an independent, third-party laboratory to ensure the products are safe for human consumption. PJLA is a private organization, offering third-party 

accreditation services for testing and calibration laboratories, and is committed to meeting and exceeding the requirements and expectations of its clients in the quality of the services it provides. It is a fully recognized accreditation body by the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation, and by the Asia Pacific Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation, to provide testing and calibration accreditation services.
 
According to EVIO Labs co-founder and president Chris Martinez, patient safety is the company’s first priority, along with the ability to ensure that it provides clean and safe cannabis for Florida. In addition, EVIO Labs has some of the most advanced technology in the industry, which enables it to quickly produce results, frequently within 24 hours.


The Florida Department of Health is committed to ensuring qualified patients have safe, reliable access to low-THC cannabis and medical marijuana. In an effort to better serve patients, the department is streamlining the medical marijuana identification card application process.

The department’s Office of Medical Marijuana Use has made changes to the Medical Marijuana Use Registry that eliminate the need for patients to submit a passport-style photograph if they have a Florida issued driver’s license or identification card. Instead, when a qualified ordering physician enters a patient into the Medical Marijuana Use Registry, the registry will automatically access the patient’s Florida Driver’s License or Florida identification card photograph directly from the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (HSMV) system. This photo will be populated in the patient’s online identification card application. Passport-style photographs will still need to be submitted for those applicants who are not in the HSMV system.
 
The department has identified photos as being a common area of error in the application process and as a priority issue for streamlining. The approval process for patient identification card applications can be delayed due to the submission of photographs that do not meet the statutory requirements. Currently, the processing time for paper applications is 26 days, and the processing time for online applications is 18 days. This patient-centered upgrade will make the application process more efficient and easier on patients and caregivers.


In Florida, medical marijuana is legal when used to treat the following conditions: cancer, epilepsy, glaucoma, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), Crohn’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and chronic, nonmalignant pain, among a number of other ailments. Unfortunately, while many of the state’s veterans suffer from these disorders, they cannot get a prescription from Veterans Administration (VA) physicians for medical cannabis.

Despite being legal in Florida, marijuana and its derivative products are still classified as Schedule One controlled substances by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which means that other federal agencies, such as the Veterans Health Administration (VHA), cannot recommend it or assist patients in obtaining it.
 
On Dec. 8, 2017, the VHA released Directive 1315, “Access to VHA Clinical Programs for Veterans Participating in State-Approved Marijuana Programs,” that defines what VA physicians and pharmacists can and cannot do when treating veterans seeking information about medical marijuana.
 
According to the directive, veterans are encouraged to discuss marijuana use with their VA providers because that information will be used as part of comprehensive care planning and enable physicians to adjust patients’ treatment plans as necessary. VA clinicians can also discuss how the use of state-approved medical marijuana may interact with other medications, or impact overall care, such as pain management, PTSD or substance use disorder treatment.
 
The information will be recorded in the patient’s VA medical record, which is protected under patient privacy and confidentiality laws and regulations.
 
Perhaps one of the most important things to note is that veteran participation in state marijuana programs does not affect a person’s eligibility for VA care and services, and that veterans will not be denied VA health services solely because of marijuana use.
 
While VA clinicians can discuss cannabis use with patients, they cannot recommend medical marijuana, nor are they allowed to complete any required paperwork or forms that would allow veterans to participate in state-approved marijuana programs. Even if a veteran has a prescription from another physician for medical marijuana, that prescription cannot be filled by a VA pharmacy, and the VA will not pay for these prescriptions from any source.
 
While veterans that qualify for state-approved programs are able to get these prescriptions from other sources, such as non-VA physicians, it will be at the veterans’ expense.
 
Asked about the use of medical marijuana to combat veterans’ death by suicide, Secretary of Veterans Affairs David Shulkin went on record at a White House press briefing in May as saying that federal law does not prevent the VA from looking at the medical use of cannabis as a possible solution. Approximately 20 veterans are dying by suicide each day.
 
“I believe that everything that could help veterans should be debated by Congress and by medical experts, and we will implement that law,” he explained. “If there is compelling evidence that this is helpful, I hope that people take a look at that and come up with the right decision, and then we will implement that.”
 
He added, “(In) some of the states that have put in appropriate controls, there may be some evidence that this is beginning to be helpful. And we’re interested in looking at that and learning from that. But until the time that federal law changes, we are not able to be able to prescribe medical marijuana for conditions that may be helpful.”
 
 


Last fall, Christopher Martinez, Co-Founder and President of EVIO Labs Florida, set out with a vision to bring clean and safe cannabis to the patients of Florida. EVIO Labs Florida is the first medical cannabis testing laboratory with ISO 17025 accreditation. Its parent company, EVIO, Inc. (OTCQB:EVIO) is a life sciences company focused on analyzing cannabis as a means for improving quality of life. The company provides analytical testing services, advisory services and performs product research in its accredited laboratory testing facilities.

EVIO Labs Florida provides state-of-the-art testing services for licensed cannabis producers and distributors to help them stay compliant with state regulations. Their lab in Davie, FL is powered by Shimadzu with $1.3 million of the most advanced technologies available for testing cannabis. EVIO provides comprehensive cannabis testing for cannabinoid and terpene profiles, microbiological and pesticides contamination, residual solvent, heavy metals, mycotoxins, water activity and moisture content.
 
“The Florida DOH, Office of Medical Marijuana Use mandates that medical cannabis must be tested by an independent 3rd party lab in order to validate these medications are safe for human consumption,” says Martinez.
 
Currently, there are 13 licensed Medical Marijuana Treatment Centers (MMTC) across the state. Four MMTC’s have brick and mortar locations, 3 MMTC’s are dispensing via delivery only with five others authorized to cultivate. Each MMTC can open as many as 25 dispensaries per license.
 
“Our goal is patient safety first. We want to ensure clean and safe cannabis to patients of Florida,” Martinez says. “For efficacy and patient safety, physicians and their patients want to know what’s inside the products and what they can expect.”
 
Here’s how the process works:
 
1. When processing marijuana, a medical marijuana treatment center must test the processed marijuana using an independent 3rd party medical marijuana testing laboratory before it is dispensed.
 
2. The medical marijuana treatment center must contract with a marijuana testing laboratory such as EVIO Labs, to perform audits on the medical marijuana treatment center’s standard operating procedures, testing records, and samples and provide the results to the department to confirm that the marijuana or low-THC cannabis meets the requirements of this section and that the marijuana or low-THC cannabis is safe for human consumption.
 
The lab utilizes two cannabis analyzer for potency, using High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) to quantitate cannabinoid profiles for 12 cannabinoids including THC, CBD, Delta-8 and Delta-9.
 
It also tests for pesticides which are commonly used in cannabis cultivation. This is potentially dangerous and pose health risks—the greatest danger occurring with chronic exposure to pesticide residue which is toxic at high levels and harmful at lower doses. As a result, EVIO Labs will test products for insecticides, fungicides, plant growth regulators, and other compounds. Using LCMS technology (Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectrometry) with new ion focusing technology ensuring the maximum number of pesticides (over 600) are detected and positively identified.
 
If a grower’s soil or water is contaminated with heavy metals, these toxic elements will be passed into the plant and on to the consumer. EVIO Labs testing protocols provide MMTC’s the opportunity to learn if their medicine is contaminated with toxic heavy metals. EVIO Labs uses Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP/MS) to screen samples for metals such as lead (Pb), arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), and mercury (Hg). This extremely sensitive technique allows cultivators, patients and physicians to assure that the levels present in the product is at safe levels. 
 
EVIO Labs uses an experienced and skilled team of chemists with over 20 years of experience. These chemists use validated methods to test cannabis products, according to Martinez. Every test report is checked by a lab director to ensure all results are valid and certified.
 
In addition, in Florida, an applicant for licensure renewal must also include a record of contracts for services with a veteran business enterprise like EVIO Labs which is registered with the Florida Office of Supplier Diversity.
 
Martinez says that EVIO has some of the most advanced technology in the industry which allows them to turn around results in a short amount of time—sometimes as fast as 24 hours.
 
Martinez and his team opened the 6,000-sq.ft, $3 million cannabis laboratory in Davie in September and are currently building a new 3,000-sq.ft lab in Gainesville set to open by March 2018.
 
To further help physicians and patients, Martinez and a partner also created an app, MJ Buddy, which helps patients determine what kinds of medical marijuana are right for their medical condition. Physicians can also use the app as well.
 
MJ Buddy takes data from thousands of patients and presents the information to doctors and research facilities. Physicians can take that data and adjust dosage, method of delivery, and strain recommendation to the patients to best suit the medical condition, age, weight, symptoms, and metabolism of each patient.


Curaleaf has opened its dispensary in Lake Worth as the company continues to deliver on its mission to provide access to the highest standards of top quality and reliable medical cannabis products in a safe, compassionate and knowledgeable environment. The dispensary greets patients in private consultation areas and makes educational resources and workshops on cannabinoid therapies available in its community meeting room.

Curaleaf offers a range of legal, low-THC and full-strength medical cannabis products made using the industry’s cleanest, most medically precise extraction and purification methods. Medical cannabis products are available in the forms of capsules, oils and vaporizer pens. Discount programs are in effect for pediatric patients, military veterans, senior citizens and recipients of government financial assistance.
 
“As one of the first medical cannabis licensees in Florida, Curaleaf is committed to making this life-changing treatment available and accessible to all, so that suffering patients can find true relief,” said
Lindsay Jones, President, Curaleaf Florida. “We are proud to open our state-of-the-art dispensary in Lake
Worth, and we want the community to know that we are committed to safety, accessibility, exceptional quality, and superior customer service.”
 
Located at 1125 North Dixie Highway, Suite C, Curaleaf is open Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The State of Florida’s Office of Medical Marijuana Use Registry requires an order from a qualified Florida ordering physician and a State of Florida medical marijuana card to obtain medical cannabis products. All dispensary visitors must show a State of Florida medical marijuana card.
 
In addition, Curaleaf will continue to offer patients free delivery in Palm Beach, Miami-Dade, Broward, Lee, Collier and Monroe counties in an effort to support and provide patients with access to the medicine they need.