Between the laboratories in Lansing and Bay City, Welch said his company has tested about 67% of all the recreational and medical bud sold in the state of Michigan over the last five years.
Greg Michaud kept watch over eight crime labs as director of the forensic science division before he became a trooper and retired as a captain.Īnd as it turns out, retired cops can make for halfway decent technicians in the cannabis world. Michele Glinn spent 12 years in MSP’s toxicology unit. Welch brought two other police veterans into the fold to help launch Viridis in 2016. of licensed cannabis products annually - or precisely 3,999,948 ounces more than I could smoke in that same timeframe.
As the chief operating officer of Viridis Laboratories, Welch and his staff in Lansing and Bay City help to oversee testing services for more than 250,000 lbs. “Our mission has always been to ensure that the product is healthy and safe,” Welch explained. After a 25-year career with the Michigan State Police in an era of illegal recreational marijuana, he said that he’s more likely to pour cocktails than pack bongs.īut that hasn’t stopped his company from cementing a lucrative, highly specialized foothold in an often overshadowed portion of the state’s licensed cannabis market: the safety compliance facilities statutorily required for growers to test every licensed marijuana harvest in Michigan.