Oklahoma Regulators Planning to Open Cannabis Testing Lab to Double-Check Commercial Labs

Oklahoma cannabis regulators are working to open a testing laboratory in February in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Voice reports. Lee Rhoades, chief science officer for the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority (OMMA) indicated that the lab would perform its own testing of medical cannabis products in the state and serve to double check results from the commercial testers in the state. 

“Several years ago, we identified the need for a lab to help support product safety in the state of Oklahoma. We were experiencing many of the same issues as several other states were having. Many of the states realized that we need our own independent testing to double check what’s going on out there in the industry and how the public is being affected by the quality of testing that may or may not be present for all products.” — Rhoades to the Voice 

The lab will serve as a site for parallel testing – testing products that have already been through commercial labs to confirm the accuracy of results – and “round robin” testing, in which regulators would send samples to private testing labs throughout the state and check their results in an effort to ensure they are consistent and accurate. 

Amy Jarvis, of Transparent Testing, which helps represent labs at the Oklahoma Cannabis Industry Association, told the Voice that she believes the state-sponsored lab will help force “bad actors” out of Oklahoma’s testing space but that she hopes regulators will seek ISO accreditation, which she says is required of “any laboratory in the state of Oklahoma.”  

Rhoades has indicated that officials plan on seeking that accreditation.