The gist is that the EPA cannot establish tolerance for cannabis, but highly recommends Colorado to follow the rules established for food-grade pesticides (if making an extract) or tobacco-grade pesticides (if making flower for smoking).
Any thoughts on the matter?
Makes sense to start from a guideline that’s already working.
The only problem is cannabis, unlike cigarettes is medicine in most cases. So I feel like medicine should contain minimal or no pesticides at all.
I definitely have to agree.
The other concern is if the grower and processor are two separate entities. The processor may not get the information they need to know what was used on the cannabis. I know some states require full disclosure from the grower, but not all states have such clearcut rules.
True. For example, I know many growers use nicotine as a pesticide and I’m not sure that it is tested for in CA on cannabis.
Considering nicotine’s toxicity, that seems like a bad idea for both the grower and end consumer.
This is a great article. Cannabis really should be in its own category depending on how it is going to be used. If it is going to be used for juicing or raw preparations I believe pesticide standards should be similar to organic foods. If using it as a concentrate than certainly, standards should be a lot tighter than tobacco.
Now, would nicotine be considered organic though?-- (assuming it is organically sourced) that’s a plus…
It’s organic (chemically), but I don’t think the USDA would consider isolated nicotine organic (agriculturally). That said, crushed up tobacco (not isolated nicotine) would probably be considered organic.
Sure. AO3 is Ozone infused in water. Basically rain water. 3-log reduction and effective against mold, mildew, fungus and reverts back into water in time depending upon the system used. Developed by the D.O.D., (AIHP ) Activated Ionized Hydrogen Peroxide is fogged and provides a 6-9 log reduction against molds, mildews, fungus and spores and reverts back into Oxygen and water within 7-minutes. O3/UV air scrubbers remove ambient air and returns it free of molds, mildews, fungus and spores. None cost more than $20,000.
Testing is the answer
Nicotenoids are one of the reasons for the Honey Bee decline. It’s a very common pesticide and one that many petitions have been signed to have banned.
In Canada, 1000’s of legal patients have been poisoned by contaminated legal Cannabis. The first one to be caught was Organigram, the only producer who was labeled organic!! The rep told me that they used Ladybugs not pesticides so maybe the little Ladybugs were flying around with spray bottles full of Myclobutanil cuz their Cannabis was found to be contaminated after they sold a bunch of it to Aurora, another legal producer. Aurora tested it, found the contamination, told Organigram and Health Cda. Btw, Aurora refunded all of their sales while Organigram only gave credits. Like anyone would risk smoking pesticide laced bud!!
Myclobutanil is a common pesticide found in Eagle 20 that is fine on plants as long as they aren’t going to be smoked. So it’s is never used on Tobacco.
There have now been about 8 recalls for contaminated Cannabis from the huge producers the Canadian Govt has allowed to grow and supply this medicine. Health Canada did nothing for the patients and a law suit is still going on though that recall happened in early January 2017.
Symptoms include nausea, loss of appetite, subsequent weight & muscle loss. Some have trouble breathing, brain fog, heart palps, anxiety. Loss of appetite can very quickly turn into a confused relationship with food which has its own issues.
The problem is that there was no testing at the time to test if you had consumed this chemical so no real compensation happened and no real fines happened either. In fact, organigram bought a whole chain of legalizing clinic shortly after that recall. No refunds, saving their coin for this acquisition.
Basically, Canada is still a long way from treating Medical Cannabis the same as every other medicine prescribed there.
I’d argue we don’t treat cannabis with much respect in the USA either. There are “funny” internet memes about all the powdery mildew bud that goes into extraction that gets sold right here in our dispensaries (I’d argue the majority of the stuff you buy rec is the same stuff sold on the med, just a difference in tax, we’ve really bastardized what “medical cannabis” even means in my opinion.) There is no quality difference from what I’ve seen (I’m a consumer, we spend money on this and we shop around SE Colorado.)
Here’s a great quote why I think this industry needs a good, hard butt spanking:
Hi all, I’m new to this group. I’m an interim manager at a facility. Need to help them out before I transfer to another. Need to wholesale 120 lbs fast. Some would be better for oil, etc. 80lbs of it has no issues, super frosty and smells amazing.
Cam someone point me in the right direction?
So about 40 pounds of that would be better for oil, 80 pounds has no issues. That means 40 pounds has some issues. Thanks Colorado! Lovin’ this weed! 
Wow. What a kick in the gut. I knew it happened, I just didn’t know growers/sellers were so honest about it. GYO! and DIY your own oil too!
That quote was not posted in THIS community, mind you
But yeah, it’s a little disturbing!
