One of only three marijuana testing labs in Alaska has shut down, leaving the state’s cannabis growers with only two options for mandated testing.
Steep Hill Alaska, of Anchorage, declared in an Instagram post that the lab is “suspending cannabis testing operations on March 31,” the Juneau Empire reported.
The bank will foreclose on the space if the lab does not move out, according to the post.
“It is currently Wells Fargo’s policy not to knowingly bank marijuana businesses,” Alaska Wells Fargo spokesman Brian Kennedy wrote in an email.
Steep Hill CEO Brian Coyle said his lab’s closure is the end result of months of conflict.
Steep Hill rents office space in Anchorage and was informed by its landlord late last year that Wells Fargo – which holds a loan on the building – was preparing to call the loan because it had learned that Steep Hill was a marijuana business.
With Steep Hill’s closure, Anchorage-based CannTest and Wasilla-based New Frontier Research now are the only available testing labs in the state.
“As far as the industry as a whole is concerned, I don’t think it will be a major issue,” said Brandon Emmett, a member of Alaska’s Marijuana Control Board.
A CannTest representative confirmed its lab has enough capacity to handle state demand.
– Associated Press
