Kenny Novotny had a problem.

The owner of 1440 Processing was seeing lab results on over 90% of cannabis he bought and submitted for testing had failed.

Those failed batches came from marijuana growers who supposedly tested the marijuana themselves after harvest, he said. They were supposed to be up to the standards outlined in Oklahoma state law, and shouldn’t have had elevated levels of pesticides, heavy metals or other dangerous chemicals — but they often did.

Financial incentives to cut corners, black market sales and a lack of state enforcement ability are forcing professionals like Novotny in the booming industry to self-police their products.

Novotny is a processor, meaning he uses specialized lab equipment worth millions of dollars to extract THC from marijuana plants, and infuse the chemical into a variety of products, including edibles, tinctures, pills and more. This kind of manufacturing massively expands the type of products available to patients beyond just the typical greens one might load into a pipe or roll into a joint.

Using tainted marijuana could not only damage the quality of the final product, it would damage Novotny’s machines, and could ultimately harm medical marijuana users who consume the products.

So why is it that some marijuana that’s supposedly been tested and “approved” can fail so spectacularly when being re-tested?

It could be because some growers are mixing tainted, or lower-quality, marijuana with good marijuana, or even forging lab results. [Read More @ The Oklahoman]