Ohio’s cannabis growers must submit samples of their crops to private testing labs that measure safety and potency, and the results are logged into an Ohio Department of Commerce database.
The database is subject to public records requests, and activists say the release of that information is in the public interest. But seven cultivators and processors have blocked the release of their data on the grounds that the information is a trade secret.
Cannabis companies don’t want competitors seeing anything that reveals their growing methods, but several experts in chemistry and botany reviewed the publicly available testing data and saw no potential issues.
Anthony Cordle, a cannabis activist whose records request led to the release of some of the data this month, has repeatedly expressed concerns about unsafe products showing up in dispensaries, and worries that vital information is hidden from patients. Industry officials have repeatedly defended the quality of their products.
For its part, the state must be cautious because it opens itself up to lawsuits if it releases sensitive information, Mikaela Hunt, the Commerce Department’s chief communication officer, told The Dispatch in January.
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