Time is now for lab licensing
With 200,000 medical cannabis patients licensed in Oklahoma, the state is the fastest-growing medical cannabis market in the United States. As such, it should be a given that medical cannabis patients have easy access to clean, pure, safe and contaminant-free products to treat their health concerns.
The Legislature agrees, having mandated that all medical cannabis products sold in Oklahoma must be tested for heavy metals, pesticides, residual solvents and other impurities that may have a negative effect on patients' health. However, recent reports that there are no labs licensed to test medical cannabis in the state put Oklahoma cannabis producers in a very difficult position.
Technically, any medical cannabis product now being sold in the state is not compliant with the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority (OMMA) regulations, because there are no state-approved labs to perform the required testing. The state's medical marijuana program has been expanding quickly, and that has presented its own challenges.
New industries always have their fair share of unscrupulous, fly-by-night opportunists who are eager to make a quick profit by disregarding the safety of their customers. The purpose of licensed testing labs is to catch these shady operators and reassure the public of the safety behind medical cannabis.
While even the best standardized tests will result in a little variance, the unusually large deviations in test results that has been seen between labs in Oklahoma is worrisome. Samples that are sent to different labs commonly result in widely divergent results — an unacceptable outcome.
Even more worrisome is the lack of regulation and oversight of the specific methodology that's used to verify the cannabis analysis of these labs. Hard, evidence-backed standards have not been implemented statewide, so there is no way of knowing if these labs are producing competent test results. Worst of all, rumors abound of labs altering data to present more favorable test results for cannabis users to retain their business.
It is vital that Oklahoma's business community backs the integrity of cannabis testing to protect medical marijuana patients in the state. Medical cannabis companies must go the extra mile to make sure their products meet all the required testing criteria — even going so far as purchasing their own testing equipment and hiring a permanent chemical engineer to verify third-party laboratory results.
At the same time, we must look to OMMA to expediently approve testing laboratories for cannabis producers to ensure that all medical marijuana products sold in Oklahoma are effective, safe and accurately tested. Only then can we be sure that all cannabis products sold statewide are entirely safe for consumption.