Proposing an 11-page document, lawmakers have concordantly come to agree on a set of recommendations for medical marijuana testing standards in Oklahoma.
According to Senator Greg McCortney, R-Ada, who co-chaired the group, the proposal serves to safeguard the health and rights of patients, by making sure that the medical marijuana products being sold are safe and tested.
“We’re going to test it to make sure it doesn’t have poisons, pesticides and also test the potency of it,” Sen. McCortney said.
According to McCortney, just like with any other medicines, users need to be sure that the product provides the medicinal properties that they are seeking. The recommendations require the products to be fully labeled, clearly stating all the extracts and substances present inside the product so that the customers know the precise details of what they are buying. The products also need to be tested for THC and CBD concentration, water activity, and moisture content, heavy metals, residual pesticides etc. amongst any other external contaminations, and then tagged accordingly.
The marijuana products are set to be tested starting mid-May 2019, however, according to Senator McCortney, they might be available in the market prior to that. This means that there is a probability that the first batch of products may not be tested.
McCortney believes that since Oklahoma State is still new to legal use of marijuana, the inception of testing labs is of extreme importance. Without these labs, the marijuana that is being used could be heavily contaminated and harmful.
He said, “Before these lab tests are put in place, any marijuana you buy in the state of Oklahoma is very much ‘use at your own risk’.
The people of Oklahoma voted to legalize the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes in June, and marijuana production has seen a hike, with both marijuana-producing businesses and potential patients rushing to get medicinal marijuana licenses from the authorities. Chip Paul (Oklahomans For Health), the author of State Question 788 which legalized medical marijuana seemed to be satisfied with the meeting. He said that he was pleased by the progress that had been made in it.
As stated by Paul, consumer safety is the utmost priority for everyone involved in the process.
“As much as people perhaps think we want this wide open, we really don’t. We want to protect consumer safety. This is a medical marijuana program. We’re uber concerned with everyone’s safety,” Paul said. “The great thing is these guys (lawmakers) all want to do that right. We may not agree on everything as to what right is, and they may not agree to what right is, but they all want to do it right and they all want to respect our will and really how we voted on this issue.”
According to Paul, while the seeds are currently being brought in from outside (or bought from the internet), many have been sown in Oklahoma’s grounds for marijuana seedlings to grow, and soon the state will become self-sufficient in producing the required amount of marijuana plants, without needing any outside help.
Despite many people jumping up to join the thriving marijuana business, Renee Harper, owner of the CBD specialty store Green Hope Wellness, says she is still a little dubious about opening a separate medical marijuana dispensary. However, she also believes that the meeting and the recommendations are a definite step in the right direction.
“I haven’t been anxious to go forth with that because it’s been so back and forth the entire time,” Harper said. “It’s just a protection for people. If you’re going to consume something, you’d want it to be tested.”
Eventually, the ultimate decision to approve the recommendations and set things into motion rests with the Board of Health at the Oklahoma State Department. According to the department’s spokesperson, the next meeting is set to be held in December, however, the schedule can be moved up under special circumstances, in case of an unanticipated final decision to take up the recommendations.