Header Image: Attorney Felina Rivera, representing Graves Farm Organics and its owner, Michael Graves,
Oklahoma Watch reports
Summer Parker didn’t understand why. She just knew she didn’t feel right.
“I’m not coherent, I’m not speaking correctly,” Parker said. “I try to open the door to the car thinking I’m going to try to stand up. I collapsed, lost consciousness, had to have EMSA come get me.”
She didn’t immediately connect it to the marijuana pre-roll she had just smoked. But after it happened other times, and each time was just after smoking a pre-roll produced by Graves Farm Organics, she and her partner, Charles Hrabina, submitted samples of the company’s medical marijuana products to a testing laboratory.
According to the couple’s lawsuit, filed in Tulsa County District Court against the company, the results showed five pesticide test failures, one for microbial contaminants, and one finding that it was less potent than the producer described.
Attorney Felina Rivera, who represents Graves Farm Organics and its owner, Michael Graves, denied her clients’ products had anything to do with Parker’s symptoms, or that there was anything wrong with the pre-rolls produced by the company.
But she does agree with Parker about one thing: There’s something very wrong with the system for testing cannabis products in Oklahoma.
“If you take a product to seven different labs, you’re going to get seven different results,” Rivera said.
Disputes over inconsistent results, laboratory oversight and the scope of required testing have raised questions about whether the system is delivering the reliability patients expect.
The debate has drawn together an unusual group of voices: patients who say contaminated products harmed them, laboratory operators who argue testing standards have improved, researchers who question whether current safeguards go far enough and regulators who have spent the past several years trying to standardize testing across one of the nation’s largest medical marijuana markets.
Every legal medical marijuana product sold in Oklahoma must pass through a licensed testing laboratory before reaching consumers. State law requires laboratories to test samples from each final harvest or production batch for seven categories: microbials, mycotoxins, residual solvents, pesticides, cannabinoid potency, terpenes and heavy metals. Products that fail contaminant testing cannot legally be transferred to dispensaries.
Laboratories operate under licenses issued by the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority and must obtain accreditation, participate in proficiency testing programs and comply with state standards governing testing procedures, quality control and recordkeeping. State law also requires laboratories to maintain policies designed to prevent financial or commercial interests from influencing test results.
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The Allegations
- Health Complications: Parker claimed she suffered severe medical issues, including repeated collapses and losses of consciousness, immediately after smoking pre-rolls produced by Graves Farm. [1]
- Independent Testing: After submitting Graves Farm products to an independent lab, Parker’s lawsuit alleged the products failed multiple safety thresholds, including five for pesticides, one for microbial contaminants, and a potency discrepancy. [1]
- Attorneys representing Graves Farm Organics and owner Michael Graves denied that their products caused Parker’s symptoms.
- State Interventions: Following independent and state re-testing that revealed pesticide contamination (such as permethrin and spiromesifen), the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority (OMMA) issued embargoes and recalls on several batches of Graves Farm products. [1]
- Facility Suspension: The OMMA ultimately issued an Emergency Order of Summary Suspension and shut down the Graves Farm Organics facility in Ardmore, Oklahoma. State inspectors cited the farm for severe health and safety violations, including untraceable wholesale products and violating state laws by increasing production batches after their initial tests. [1, 2]
Graves Farm Organics LLC Shut Down Following June Embargo and Recall
Graves Farm Organics LLC (PAAA-EYKG-PCTX) has been suspended for failing to meet state testing requirements and other violations endangering public health and safety.
On July 29, 2024, the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority (OMMA) inspected the processor’s facility. The inspection resulted in the issuance of an Emergency Order of Summary Suspension and Embargo.
“There is no room in Oklahoma’s medical marijuana program for operators who disregard the law and endanger public health and safety. We work diligently behind the scenes so patients can trust the marijuana they purchase at dispensaries has been properly tested and is safe for consumption. Regulations are in place for a reason – when operators cut corners, patients suffer,” said OMMA Executive Director Adria Berry.
According to the Emergency Order of Summary Suspension and Embargo:
- During the July 29 inspection, OMMA discovered the licensed premises was unsanitary, unkept and unsafe for the processing of medical marijuana products.
- During the July 29 inspection, OMMA identified containers of untagged and untraceable wholesale medical marijuana/medical marijuana product.
- During the inspection, OMMA found medical marijuana/medical marijuana products that were tagged but reported as zero inventory in the state’s seed-to-sale tracking system.
- Graves Farm Organics LLC’s failure to properly tag and track medical marijuana/medical marijuana product and failure to comply with the mandatory reporting requirement poses an imminent public health and safety risk.
- Graves Farm Organics LLC violated state law by creating production batches, testing the production batches, creating more product and increasing the production batches after testing.
- Graves Farm Organics LLC’s business practices are an immediate and inherent danger to public health, safety and welfare.
Related Story: Safety Concerns Prompt OMMA to Issue Recall
Anyone who suspects illegal activity related to a medical marijuana business in their area should fill out OMMA’s Business Complaints Form at omma.ok.gov/complaint. Patients concerned about medical marijuana/medical marijuana product they consumed are encouraged to contact their physician and fill out the agency’s Health Impact Form at omma.ok.gov/health.
