Oklahoma to Revoke Testing Lab’s License Amid Scandal

The Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority (OMMA) says it intends to revoke the license of Oklahoma City-based F.A.S.T. Laboratories amid multiple investigations into alleged misconduct, Tulsa World reports.

F.A.S.T. Labs and its owner-operator Kyle Felling are being investigated by the OMMA and the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Control due to allegations of falsified test results, including passing some samples that officials say may have contained unsafe levels of lead, mold, and bacteria. Regulators accuse Felling specifically of manipulating test results on about 40 separate occasions, some of which included products that failed testing due to lead, staphylococcus aureus, mold, or salmonella, according to the report.

“The investigation revealed widespread, flagrant, continuous and willful violations that place the public’s health and safety at risk.” — OMMA memo, obtained by Tulsa World

In a motion requesting an administrative hearing over the scandal, OMMA wrote that all of the lab’s toxicology testing data “went through Mr. Felling … even though Mr. Felling was typically in Arkansas and uninvolved with the actual testing of samples.”

The motion also says Felling admitted during an onsite investigation by officials on June 19, 2020, that he had, “altered microbial and heavy metal results.” Follow-up investigations in July, meanwhile, uncovered at least 26 instances in May where residual solvent testing did not occur but the testing lab reported the samples had passed, anyway.

F.A.S.T. Labs is one of 23 testing labs licensed for the Oklahoma medical cannabis industry.