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Stakeholders tell OMMA pesticide expansion outpaces lab capacity; urge enforcement first
Summary
During OMMA's Dec. 17 public-comment meeting, laboratory directors, growers and patients warned that a proposed expansion of the pesticide analyte list and lower action limits would exceed many Oklahoma labs' technical abilities and urged the agency to enforce existing rules and delay new requirements until the state QA lab is operational.
At a public comment session of the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority on Dec. 17, 2024, laboratory directors, growers and patient advocates told agency staff that a proposed expansion of the pesticide analyte list from 13 to 60 and sharply lower action limits would exceed the technical capacity of many state testing laboratories.
"Expanding the pesticide list without first addressing these critical enforcement gaps does not enhance safety. It merely widens the scope of failure," said Matthew Phillips, CEO of Oklahoma Compliance Testing Lab.
Speakers repeatedly urged OMMA to prioritize enforcement of existing laboratory requirements before adding new analytes or requiring new instrumentation. Jeremy Woods of Wild West Compliance told the authority that some laboratories are not following current quality-control rules and that equipment upgrades could cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. "Labs are gonna have to spend $400,000 to change equipment…
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