By Benjie Cooper
IG: @nuglifenews
YouTube: Lucid’s Vlog
As the cannabis industry continues to grow in the United States, the practice of pesticide use on crops is one that is under ever-increasing scrutiny. While some growers prefer to pursue the organic route and avoid chemical pesticides, using them is a prevalent practice in the field of cultivation of marijuana for the masses. Regardless of a grower’s decision to use pesticides or not, the end consumer’s health should be the primary consideration taken when using a potentially harmful product during cultivation.
There are no federal regulations regarding the use of pesticides on cannabis crops because of the plant’s status as a Schedule I narcotic under the Controlled Substances Act of 1970, and not all of the states that have legalized the production and use of medical and recreational marijuana have passed regulations regarding the use of chemicals during cultivation. Alaska requires testing for potency and microbial contamination but not pesticides. State lawmakers excluded the practice from the rules back in 2015 as they were afraid that the cost of screening would be too expensive for a budding industry. State laws mandate that growers disclose pesticides to retailers, but do not require the information on the product’s final packaging.
In the time since Colorado residents voted to legalize recreational-use marijuana, the state’s producers have been subject to the realities of pesticide regulation. Dispensaries pulled hundreds of thousands of edible, flower, and concentrate products by an extensive list of different manufacturers from their shelves through more than sixty individual recalls conducted since 2015. Companies carried out voluntary recalls after the Denver Department of Environmental Health, and the Colorado Marijuana Enforcement Division posted public notices.
Oregon has some of the most comprehensive cannabis screening standards to date as they require growers to submit a percentage of their crop for a variety of checks that include testing for pesticides and determining THC and CBD percentages. Earlier this year, the Oregon Health Authority submitted proposed changes to ease the rules but decided not to make the revisions after a public comment period in which 98% of the nearly 3,900 cannabis businesses and consumers that responded said that they supported leaving the testing rules unchanged.
Businesses in Washington state are not required to submit their products for testing, but some regulators conduct independent tests for banned pesticides. Following a consumer-driven campaign calling for pesticide and fungicide-free products, the state is looking to implement a certification program for organic cannabis.
California resides among the top economies of the world and, as its foundational regulatory system is now under construction, is aptly poised to be the next big frontier in the marijuana industry. Though not marijuana-specific, the state does have a list of banned agricultural pesticides and under Prop 65, requires that facilities post a notice when there are products or environments where state-determined carcinogenic substances are present. Provisions for medical marijuana were put into place under the Compassionate Use Act in 1996, but as of yet, the state does not require third-party testing for cannabis products. California has listed marijuana smoke as a carcinogen since 2009.
When attorney Mark Morrison discovered that pesticide use was so widespread in California, he spent months acquiring and submitting edible, flower, vape, and concentrate products for testing. After receiving the results, he mailed notices to 675 of the state’s dispensaries to inform them that they were in violation of Proposition 65 for failing to post public notices about the presence of carcinogenic materials sold on the premises. Morrison has since withdrawn some of the notices, but other companies on the list of Prop 65 offenders included Kushy Punch, Cheeba Chews, Caviar Gold, Eureka Vapor, TKO Edibles, and Korova. The attorney has not yet released the full list to the public, but contacted manufacturers maintained that their products are safe for consumption. Following Morrison’s lead, other attorneys have started submitting Prop 65 violation notices via the California Department of Justice to dispensaries around the state for failing to inform consumers of the possible hazards of marijuana smoke.
Because people commonly use marijuana as a medicinal product, the widespread use of pesticides, herbicides, and fungicides is something that needs addressing on a large scale at both the government and producer levels. While it’s not a heal-all, the marijuana plant possesses quite powerful healing attributes, applicable to a wide range of conditions, setting it apart from other flora. Aside from regulations, manufacturers should strive to produce a product that is clean, maximizing the product’s intended benefits and minimizing its health risks. Patients, as well as recreational consumers, deserve to have the assurance and peace of mind that they are buying a clean, safe product that can be used to treat and prevent certain types of cancer instead of causing them.
