Cannabis industry representatives told Oklahoma lawmakers during an interim study Monday that adopting standard practices used by food and drug makers could make medical cannabis cheaper and safer.
They tried to sell lawmakers on process validation, a system where data is collected at different stages of manufacturing to ensure safety. Apothecary Farms and Apothecary Extracts Director of Compliance and Regulatory Affairs Kevin Gallagher explained how it might work for growers, who currently must test every batch for banned pesticides.
"If we're testing our agricultural chemicals and ensuring that those pesticides don't reside there originally, why should we have to test every single batch for pesticides, right? The pesticide contamination doesn't come out of nowhere, right? It has to be in those agricultural chemicals," Gallagher said.
Gallagher said currently, required testing makes up 48% of growers' operation costs. He said testing accounts for 5% to 10% of food and drug manufacturers’ costs.
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