Cannabis Testing

Oregon’s cannabis testing standards focus on ensuring safety and quality through rigorous testing of marijuana products, with particular guidelines for flower, concentrates, extracts, and edibles. The Oregon Health Authority (OHA) mandates compliance testing for several contaminants, including pesticides, heavy metals, solvents, microbiological contaminants, and potency metrics (like THC and CBD levels). These testing requirements differ based on product type and intended use, and specific thresholds must be met for products to be legally sold.

Key updates include the mandatory testing of harvest lots for mycotoxins and heavy metals since 2023, and testing for Delta-8 THC since July 2022. For concentrates and extracts, testing for solvents (if used in production) is also required. Products undergo sampling based on batch size, and larger batches need multiple samples to maintain accuracy. Edible products must be uniform in weight and texture, and variations, such as frosting or flavoring, can affect how batches are classified and tested.

For inhalable products, potency and contaminant testing are also required. Notably, the OHA provides specific rules on the sampling and handling process to maintain chain of custody and compliance, which helps standardize the process across labs and producers​. It is important to note that some critics of the testing process still claim that THC numbers are being inflated on store shelves.

Source: https://www.oregon.gov/olcc/marijuana/pages/mj-tax-compliance.aspx