With Southern Nevada’s first dispensary now open after months of red tape, medical marijuana cultivators are facing growing pains as they grapple with the state’s strict testing standards.

Laboratory tests, required before medical marijuana can be sold, that growers have failed have led to pounds of marijuana being destroyed, constricting supply and delaying at least one dispensary from opening.

Dispensaries report several batches of cannabis failing to meet the required levels for pesticides, mycotoxins or heavy metals, although the Division of Public and Behavioral Health could not provide specific data.

While the lost crops are painful to growers who can lose tens of thousands of dollars for each failed batch, industry advocates say it’s a sign Nevada’s toughest-in-the-nation standards for marijuana quality are working. [Read more at the Las Vegas Sun]