The difference between the two can be apparent from visual inspection for those who know what they’re looking for, but only a chemical test can determine for certain whether cannabis plant material has a low enough threshold to qualify as hemp. Authorities in Oklahoma had taken the material for testing, but results were not available Friday.

James Baumgartner, president of the Colorado-based purchaser of the shipment, provided documentation showing the majority of the plant material tested at or below the federal threshold of three-tenths of 1 percent THC content for hemp. Cannabis that becomes medical and recreational marijuana, by contrast, typically has THC contents around 15 percent to 20 percent.

Baumgartner said Panacea Life Sciences ordered the shipment of hemp from Kentucky because the company’s needs were beyond what the 2018 hemp harvest in Colorado could support.

“Kentucky does a better job than just about every other state,” Baumgartner said. “What the state does is take very good control over the farming element. They quarantine it; they test it; and they certify it before they will let it be sold commercially.”

Baumgartner said a Pawhuska Police Department representative yelled at and hung up on one of his employees who called seeking information.