The lab review is a critical component to getting the adult-use marijuana industry off the ground, since no adult use marijuana sales can take place before the product is tested by a licensed lab. CDX Analytics in Salem, and MCR Labs in Framingham, are both up for review. Both have already received provisional licenses, and have already been testing for the medical marijuana market. They now require additional approval from the commission to test the recreational market.

The final license signifies that the labs have passed an initial in-person inspection and have met all the requirements imposed on the license, such as getting owners fingerprinted to run a criminal background check.

The state has already issued final licenses for two dispensaries — Cultivate in Leicester and New England Treatment Access in Northampton. Both dispensaries are now getting their employees approved for the state’s seed-to-sale tracking system. Cultivate, which was also given a final license to cultivate marijuana, is also in the process of tagging its marijuana plants and entering them into the state’s database.

Though the two labs won’t have to tag any marijuana plants or products, they will be required to have their employees approved by the state to work in the state’s seed-to-sale tracking system to record that any marijuana inventory has been tested.

Commission staff will still have to return to any marijuana business with a final license to do one more inspection before marijuana sales can commence or products can be tested. The state said it will issue a “commence full operations” notice when sales can begin, and officials estimated that that could take place in a matter of weeks.