Hemp plant material undergoes testing at a lab. Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority investigators tracked a recent complaint to a product that required the installation of new equipment to identify a harmful THC analogue additive.
A potentially harmful substance that compounds the intoxicating properties of THC has been found by Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority quality testing, the agency warned patients this week.
THC-O-acetate was found by lab vendor Metis during quality testing of a specific concentrate identified only by strain name and batch number. An investigation remains ongoing, according to OMMA spokeswoman Kelsey Pagonis, with the agency close to being able to identify where in the supply chain the THC analogue was added.
THC-O-acetate is not included in any testing regulations under OMMA, Pagonis said, so the agency was unable to issue a recall because the product technically did not fail required testing.
The owner of Genesis Testing Labs in Grove, Tony Brixey, said cannabis laboratory professionals will be going to OMMA for guidance.
“We’re looking at ways to add that to our test methods so that’s something we can pick up on,” he said Wednesday in a phone interview. “It wasn’t on our radar to test for.”
THC-O-acetate is derived in a highly dangerous process involving adding acetic anhydride to the compounds extracted from hemp plants or, potentially, even THC in its natural form.
Hemp, legalized in the 2018 Farm Bill, is the legal term for cannabis plant material containing less than 0.3% THC. In states without legal marijuana industries, some have started using the nonintoxicating cannabis plants along with chemical reagents to produce a compound that may end up with several times the potency of natural THC.
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