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A recent report by a cannabis lab manager shows the labels on cannabis products are allegedly reporting the wrong THC level.
THC is the psychoactive component in marijuana. The higher the percentage, the stronger the effects.
As you can imagine, getting a different amount than what you expect comes with consequences.
“We’ve been reading a lot of reports over the last several years about the inflation of THC, the potency numbers and how it was affecting different markets,” Jeffery Havard, lab manager at Havard Industries said.
Havard says THC potency has been an issue around the US, with inconsistencies between what labels claim, and what customers actually get. He says Oklahoma is no different.
“We went to three different dispensaries,” Havard said. “We just asked the bud tenders to give us one of each of the most popular strains. So, we end up getting 15 samples total and we tested all of those 15 individual samples out for their THC potency.”
The results from Havard Industries says all 15 samples were overreported. According to the report, on average, the samples were 78% weaker than their label listed, though some were off by nearly 200%.
Havard says such a huge variations could have pretty serious consequences. The inconsistent numbers may give users a false sense of security, and when they actually get that higher THC number, it could make them sick.
“If you were actually to get a product that was closer to that 24%, when you’re used to smoking like an eight and a half, then you’re going to feel extremely bad.” Havard said.
We reached out to several dispensaries in our area; each told us any product they buy comes with testing results and a certificate of authenticity in Metrc, the system that Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority uses to track growers and sales across the state.
All of those testing labs, like Havard Industries, are licensed by the state, and the dispensaries we spoke with say the test results are put directly on the product without being modified.
Havard says the way the state is set up, it’s hard to track where the problem is coming from.
“It’s hard to know if it’s coming from like a dispensary, from a grower, from labs, where exactly, we just know that there’s a problem,” Havard said.
