A cancer patient buying a $20 Coma Treats personal pizza expects the buzz and knockout pain relief that comes with 350 milligrams of THC, the ingredient that would likely give even an experienced consumer an intense high.

But the pizza may not deliver on its promise.

Hazy science drives the making, testing and marketing of marijuana-infused edibles, a fast growing segment of Oregon's booming medical marijuana market.

The state assures consumers that medical cannabis and cannabis-infused products undergo a battery of lab tests for everything from pesticides to potency before landing on dispensary shelves.

Yet when it comes to potency that promise is largely an empty one, a three-month investigation by The Oregonian/OregonLive has found.

Medical marijuana testing in Oregon is done by a cottage industry with an estimated 19 labs operating without oversight or clear scientific standards. While Colorado's testing industry is subject to tight regulation involving audits and on-site inspections, Oregon public health officials don't actually know how many marijuana-testing labs operate in the state.

And even when staffed by experienced scientists, Oregon labs produce wildly inconsistent potency results, leaving patients with no idea of what they actually are consuming regardless of the labeling.

The problem is compounded by a lack of accepted scientific standards for testing marijuana-infused foods. The result: Each lab decides for itself the best way to measure how much THC -- short for tetrahydrocannabinol -- an edible product contains.

What's more, when it comes to marketing medical marijuana, potency sells, creating pressure to churn out impressive results as labs compete for lucrative contracts with producers, some of whom spend thousands of dollars a month on potency and pesticide testing.

The Oregonian/OregonLive commissioned a respected analytical chemist to conduct a detailed potency analysis of 15 marijuana-infused edible products sold in Portland dispensaries and found only one contained accurate potency information on its label.

The analysis was performed by Rodger Voelker, scientific director at OG Analytical, a marijuana-testing company in Eugene. He tested marijuana-infused products ranging from ice cream to kombucha.

The results were all over the place.

The majority of products claimed to be stronger than they were. A dozen labels overstated the amount of actual THC. Among them: a chocolate chip cookie that claimed to have 197 milligrams of THC, but instead contained 52 milligrams. The difference is enough to noticeably alter the duration and strength of the high.

Labels on two products, a container of salted caramel ice cream and a chocolate truffle, understated the amount of THC. The ice cream actually had about 54 percent more THC than stated.

Unreliable potency testing isn't the only issue effecting consumers.

Hazy science

This occasional series by The Oregonian/ OregonLive examines the science of testing marijuana, consumer safety and public policy as Oregon expands from allowing medical marijuana to a legal recreational market. This installment: Oregon's unregulated marijuana-testing labs produce wildly inconsistent results when it comes to the potency of marijuana-infused edible products, a fast growing segment of the consumer market.

The series

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How potent are marijuana edibles?

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The Oregonian/OregonLive found inconsistent and confusing packaging of edible products. Only four had expiration dates. Eight offered no warning about the product's potency or delayed effects, both key issues when it comes to consuming marijuana-infused foods.

Oregon's lack of oversight of medical marijuana labs has implications for consumer safety when the recreational cannabis market begins to roll out in 2016.

The new law doesn't require that cannabis sold in recreational outlets undergo testing, but a committee of Oregon lawmakers assigned to study marijuana policies tackled the issue at one of its first meetings this year.

Meanwhile, medical marijuana consumers say getting accurate information about what they're eating is critical.

"It's dangerous for everyone," said Tina Martinez, a Portland woman who relies on marijuana-infused candies to cope with chronic nausea from gastrointestinal disease. "For it not to be correct, that's kind of like mislabeling food."

Martinez, 44, who takes morphine daily to manage crippling pain, said accurate potency results matter, especially to medical marijuana patients.

"There are other people who think about it like they don't really care, they want to get high," she said. "That is not my situation. I have to pay attention."

The results

Owners of companies producing marijuana-infused products were surprised to learn their labels were at odds with the potency tests commissioned by The Oregonian/OregonLive.

Some consumers also pay attention to the amount of cannabidiol, or CBD, a product or dried flower contains. Patients say CBD has health properties but doesn't give consumers a high.

"At the end of the day, most people are going to go with that 150 milligram gummy that's the same price as the 100 milligram cookie, even if they would rather have a cookie because you are just getting much more value," said Matt Walstatter, owner of Pure Green, a medical marijuana dispensary in Northeast Portland.

Coma Treats' commercial kitchen churns out chocolate bars, brownies, pepperoni pizzas and a Thin Mint knockoff. The chocolate-dipped "Wake and Bake" spoon, spiked with 60 to 70 milligrams of THC, is intended to boost the buzz of an ordinary cup of coffee.

The Williamses pay "easily a couple thousand" a month to an outside lab that tests their products. Occasionally, they'll hire a second lab to verify results, though they aren't required to.

They frequently sample their own product to double-check their strength.

"We know how effective the pizza may be," Williams said, "but we don't necessarily know how strong it is."

Williams said his company meets state requirements by having their products tested. It's left to marijuana product makers to sort out which lab to hire.

"You have to pick one," he said. "There are times where (labs) will, in the past, flat out say, 'What (potency) do you think it should be?' I wouldn't pick one of those labs."

After seeing OG Analytical's analysis, Williams said he decided to take Coma Treats' products to a different lab.

Drew Edwards, owner of Canna Lab, performed the initial potency tests on the Coma Treats pizza. Edwards, a medical marijuana patient and grower who started his lab three years ago in his garage and has since moved to a downtown Eugene storefront, stands by his analysis. He said a Dutch university has certified that his testing methods are sound.

He added that Oregon's marijuana-testing industry is a competitive one that does not serve consumers.

"It's a dirty, dirty business right now," he said. "There are people out there who are doing back biting so they can make payments on their equipment."

Gary Stevenson, 62, owns Beems, a Portland baking company that makes cannabis-infused cookies. He said lab results on his products were so inconsistent that in January he had batches of all five of his cookies analyzed for potency at three labs. He spent about $1,500 on the tests.

None produced the same results. The peanut butter cookies, for instance, turned up THC levels ranging from 154 milligrams to 391 milligrams. He took the unusual step of adding all three results to each package so consumers could judge for themselves.

"I thought it was laughable and tragic," said Stevenson, who bakes in a commercial kitchen. "It's the same cookie. All of the cookies I took in were baked on the same pan, in the same oven, at the exact same time."

What's next

Susan Lind-Kanne doesn't leave her Sandy house without a white container of Gummiez tucked into her purse. She counts on the candies, which contain 10 to 25 milligrams of THC, to ease severe arthritic pain.

The Oregonian/OregonLive purchased one container of the candies for the analysis. The label said each contained 25 milligrams of THC; OG Analytical found the slice contained 4.95 milligrams.

The disparity prompted Lind-Kanne, 59, to wonder if the pain relief she experienced was psychological.

"It would be nice if it was accurate," she said. "But I acknowledge this industry is in its infancy, and it's very fluid. Things are going to change."

The Oregon Liquor Control Commission, the agency charged with overseeing the recreational marijuana industry recently noted "deficiencies" with medical marijuana testing and urged lawmakers to establish a licensing and third-party lab certification process for labs.

Tom Burns, director of marijuana programs for the OLCC, recently told a legislative committee that Oregon needs strong standards and regulation for marijuana testing.

"It is important that you get a handle around the whole lab issue," he warned the committee that was established to look at Measure 91's implementation.

"Without doing this you run risks," Burns said. "You get different results depending on where you send your product. You get different results depending on whether you are an expert in testing. It becomes a problem for the consumer."

-- Noelle Crombie

-- Graphics by Mark Graves