The Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority, or OMMA, released a patient advisory Monday for the state when a specific batch of pot came back positive for the compound THC-O-acetate.
In their release acting as a “smoke signal”, the governing agency said it’s a combination that could prove dangerous.
They are now looking into how it got into the batch and how many batches it’s gotten into.
The situation all started when the OMMA received a complaint from a patient who had a bad experience on the green.
“We discovered that there was a product that tested positive for a compound called THC-O-acetate,” said Kelsey Pagonis, the communications manager for the agency. “We don’t yet have that confirmed where it happened in the supply chain.”
The agency investigated the situation and tested the batch. The tests eventually came back positive for THC-O-acetate in a concentrate by the name of Platinum OG (BA#-POG-062421). A synthetic compound that’s three times or more potent than THC.
“It’s not something that we previously have required testing for,” Pagonis said.
Right now, for the consumer, there’s no way to know if it’s in your product until you take it. Potential side effects include seizures, vomiting, and difficulty speaking. Pagonis said the compound can affect everyone differently. The agency also mentioned in it’s post that the compound can be harmful when combined with medical marijuana.
“THC-O-acetate is also in the same vein of things like delta 8 or delta 10 THC that we are seeing manufactured from CBD distillate,” Green said. “Being a synthetic type of a deal it hasn’t really been in the consumer hands the way let’s say delta 9 has been.”
According to Green, this compound ending up in some pot is a side effect of people cutting corners.
“You can create a synthetic cannabinoid that has these effects for cheaper than what you could say do it with d9 or distillate oil from marijuana,” he said.
Pagonis added that they’re seeing a rise in cases with these compounds that she called “THC analogs.” She said they are continuing to work to find out where it got into the products and how.
“As testing comes online, we’re going to see more stories like this,” Jed Green said. “However, that’s natural and that’s an indicator that enforcement is actually beginning to happen in earnest so it’s not necessarily a bad thing.”