Marijuana industry reps try to sell state lawmakers on process to help reduce testing costs in Oklahoma

Cannabis industry representatives told Oklahoma lawmakers during an interim study Monday that adopting standard practices used by food and drug makers could make medical marijuana cheaper and safer.

They tried to sell lawmakers on process validation, a system where data is collected at different stages of manufacturing to ensure safety. Apothecary Farms and Apothecary Extracts Director of Compliance and Regulatory Affairs Kevin Gallagher explained how it might work for growers, who currently must test every batch for banned pesticides.

“If we’re testing our agricultural chemicals and ensuring that those pesticides don’t reside there originally, why should we have to test every single batch for pesticides, right? The pesticide contamination doesn’t come out of nowhere, right? It has to be in those agricultural chemicals,” Gallagher said.

Gallagher said currently, required testing makes up 48% of growers’ operation costs. He said testing accounts for 5% to 10% of food and drug manufacturers’ costs.

“That’s money that we can reinvest into our employees, our business, our community, and we’re able to make our product cheaper so it can compete within the marketplace,” Gallagher said.

If process validation were approved, the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority would need to develop new standards for it. OMMA Director of Laboratory Oversight Lee Rhoades said the state’s more successful labs are already doing a form of process validation by helping their clients figure out problems. [Read more at Public Radio Tulsa]