Trichome Analytical earns NJ’s first adult-use testing license

Dawn Furnas//June 23, 2022

Trichome Analytical, an accredited cannabis and hemp testing lab based in Mount Laurel Township, announced June 23 that it earned New Jersey’s first annual license for testing within the adult-use cannabis program.

“I am proud that the first adult-use license has been issued to a New Jersey-based small business, and honored to represent other small businesses seeking to get established in this industry in their home state,” Trichome Analytical Founder and COO Kristen Goedde said in a statement.

“My goal has always been to ensure that products are tested accurately, with consumer safety and transparency as the priorities,” Goedde continued. “This is a very important step in getting the industry to that point.” The statement added that the lab was hopeful New Jersey’s Cannabis Regulatory Commission will begin approving annual licenses for plant-touching businesses in upcoming public meetings.

In January, Goedde penned an opinion piece for NJBIZ calling for better regulations for the industry after New York adopted cannabinoid hemp program regulations under the Office of Cannabis Management.

“New Jersey’s cannabis program has seen significant progress recently, with applications opening in mid-December, but in some other key policy areas, it’s falling behind our neighbors when it comes to managing this plant,” she wrote at the time.

In the June 23 statement, Trichome stated that “[t]esting by reputable, licensed, third-party laboratories helps ensure cannabis products such as dried flower, vapes, concentrates and ingestibles are accurately labeled for potency and in compliance with regulations for pesticides, heavy metals and microbial contamination.”

In operation since 2020, Trichome holds approvals in the New Jersey Medical Marijuana Program and New York Cannabinoid Hemp Program, as well as U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration registration and ISO/IEC 17025:2017 accreditation.

“As someone with over a decade in third-party testing, I saw an opportunity to use my expertise to transition into cannabis testing in any way that I could, to help raise the standard of testing in New Jersey,” Goedde added. “I didn’t realize at the time it would evolve into starting the first cannabis lab in the state, and being issued the first official adult-use license. I’m excited to see where the industry takes us—there’s still a lot of work to be done.”