Medical Marijuana patients should be able to trust that the product they are consuming is safe from mold, heavy metals, and pesticides and that the THC and other contents are accurately labeled.  

 

While our program requires labs to test products for their safety and contents, the department lacks the authority to oversee the labs and verify the results as accurate.  

 

This can lead to dangerous scenarios, as recent investigations by the Wall Street Journal and others found testing programs in other states are fraught with lab shopping, dishonest reporting of results, and product recalls.  
 

The series also found that: 

• Companies will use the labs that fail the fewest products, and therefore some labs will knowingly give passing scores to dirty products to receive more business. 

• Products that passed testing by independent labs and made it to the shelf were found to have dangerous levels of containments after states retested the products.  

• Companies are flocking to labs that inaccurately report higher THC content in their products, making the labels useless to consumers. In fact, in Oregon, one lab was caught on video adding substances to flower to increase its THC score during testing.  

 

I plan to introduce legislation to ensure product integrity by establishing oversight through audit testing, quality assurance testing, data transparency, and inspections. In addition, it would add an expert in laboratory science to the MMJ board. 

 

This bill (HB2208) passed the House 196-6 last session. 
 
Please join me in cosponsoring this important legislation.