A group of local Maryland doctors plans to open a medical marijuana testing facility in Columbia, Maryland to test cannabis product quality because the state prepares to launch its burgeoning therapeutic cannabis program in 2017.

Testing is needed by state law for cannabis growers, that bestowed a chance for the cluster of four doctors, led by Dr. Apostle Rosenstein, chief of the division of medicine at University of Maryland.

Rosenstein said the doctors were troubled regarding potential threats to a number of their sickest patients from contaminants in cannabis that might complicate conditions instead of alleviate pain and different symptoms.

“Some of our cancer patients told us they were using marijuana, and one of my colleagues came to me and said they are legalizing cannabis in the state of Maryland for medical purposes and is there some role for us to play,” he said.

“If patients are going to be using it, then people like us need to make sure it’s safe, pharmaceutical-grade product.”

Maryland is still functioning out the small print of what contaminants labs can check for, however the rules can embrace metals, pesticides and microbes like E. coli that would hurt users. The labs conjointly can check for efficiency.

The testing rules may ward off issues in alternative states concerning testing inaccuracies. Health department officers in Washington state say they recently tightened rules, citing a necessity to defend qualifying patients by controlling the medical marijuana merchandise.

But other states have grappled with a way to set standards for a drug that’s still smuggled at the federal level and not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Several labs have sought after to develop their own standards, as well as Steep Hill Labs opposition, the science lab company that Rosenstein’s cluster of doctors is connected with.

Based in Berkeley, California, Steep Hill has company-owned or connected labs in five alternative states wherever medical marijuana is legal, and plans to open additional.

“With cannabis becoming accepted as medicine and therapy in cancer treatment, epilepsy and for other known medical conditions in over 30 states, bringing the highest medical standards to all aspects of the industry is critical,” Keller, Steep Hill’s president and CEO, said in a statement.

Keller stated Rosenstein’s team “will benefit immediately from our extensive knowledge of the cannabis plant and our proprietary testing technology and, as we work together, we will all benefit from the Steep Hill Maryland team’s extensive medical knowledge.”

They expect to be ready to begin testing in six months, that seemingly can beat the state’s timetable for selecting licenses to grow or sell cannabis. Items don’t seem to be expected to be on the market to patients until 2017.