Operational Requirements for Manufacture of Cannabis Products

October 20, 2023

Regardless of the license held, any person licensed to manufacture products must meet a number of requirements. These operational requirements apply to all cannabis product production whether a cannabis manufacturer or a microbusiness with a manufacturing endorsement.

1. Facility: Cannabis manufacturing must take place in an enclosed, locked facility used exclusively for the manufacture of cannabis products, creation of hemp concentrate, creation of artificially derived cannabinoids, creation of lower-potency hemp edibles, or creation of hemp-derived consumer products, except that a business that also holds a cannabis cultivator license may operate in a facility that shares general office space, bathrooms, entryways, and walkways.
2. Equipment: Any person manufacturing cannabis products may only do so on equipment used “exclusively” for the manufacture of cannabis and hemp products. 
3. Extraction and Concentration: A licensee must inform the Office of all methods of extraction and concentration that the licensee intends to use, and the licensee must also identify the volatile chemicals (if any) that will be involved in the extraction and concentration processes.
4. Artificially Derived Cannabinoids: A licensee creating artificially derived cannabinoids will need to inform the Office of all methods of conversion, including the catalysts the manufacturer will use, and the molecular name of all cannabinoids or other chemicals that the manufacturer will crease.
5. Third-Party Certifications: Each licensee must obtain a certification from an independent third-party “industrial hygienist or professional engineer” approving (1) electrical, gas, fire suppression, and exhaust systems; and (2) plans for safe storage and disposal of hazardous chemicals.
6. Unlicensed Cannabis Flower: Interestingly, a licensed manufacturer may obtain authorization to manufacture cannabis products from cannabis flower received by unlicensed persons. This potentially allows home growers to have their own personal-use products made by a licensed manufacturer. The unlicensed cannabis, however, will have to be stored separately from licensed cannabis, use equipment exclusively used for the extraction or concentration of unlicensed flower, store products derived from unlicensed growers separate from products produced for or by licensed growers, and provide any concentrate only to the person that provided the homegrown cannabis flower. 
7. Disclosure: Upon the sale of any concentrate or artificially derived cannabinoids, the manufacturer must disclose in writing the method of extraction and concentration or conversions used, and any solvents, gases, or catalysts involved int that method.
8. Trademarked Food: A licensed manufacturer may not add cannabis or hemp to any of the manufacturer’s products for which the manufacturer holds a trademark, except they may use a trademarked food product if – and only if – the manufacturer uses the product as a component or as part of a recipe, and where the business does not state or advertise to the customer that the final product contains a trademarked food product. This could get tricky, so it is important for manufacturers to break this down carefully so as to avoid coming out with a cannabis version of a trademarked food product.

Manufacturing equipment can be expensive, so it is important for businesses to set up compliance policies prior to beginning production in order to avoid running afoul of the state production laws, many of which are described above.