Oklahoma Approves Cannabis Testing Standards for Health Department Approval

 [dropcap class=”kp-dropcap”]O[/dropcap]klahoma’s joint medical cannabis committee approved an 11-page set of recommendations for cannabis testing they hope the Oklahoma State Board of Health will approve and implement.

The state, which has been moving quickly through the approval of its legislation process, wants to ensure that medical cannabis is safe to consume. “We’re going to test it to make sure it doesn’t have poisons, pesticides and also test the potency of it,” said Sen. Greg McCortney.  “Since it’s a medicine, just like any other medicine, you want to make sure it actually has the medicinal values you’re looking for. 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.’”

Unfortunately, without a special session to implement the rules, the committee is looking to the state’s Board of Health to adopt he recommendations or provide similar rules. The Oklahoma State Board of Health, however, has no obligation to follow the recommendations.

The board is not due to meet again until December (unless a special meeting is called) and has not considered medical cannabis at either of its last two meetings, according to Department of Health spokesperson Tony Sellars. “In the end, the Board of Health may completely ignore the work we do here today,” McCortney said. He said that testing and labeling are key issues with hundreds of dispensaries scheduled to open in the state, which legalized medical cannabis in June.

Despite issues, state Gov. Mary Fallin believes that support from the House and Senate will be necessary to continue.  “ . . . I do think the Legislature needs to have a bill ready and go into session—whatever that timeframe is—to address this issue and give certainty to the growers, to the recipients who want to be able to use medical marijuana, and protections for various businesses that will worry about breaking federal law and getting in trouble,” said Fallin.