Legal Californian Weed Found With Illegal Pesticides

While most states are still fighting to get cannabis legalized, California is struggling with its own legal ramifications: unregulated pesticide use in weed farms. 

Medical and recreational cannabis has been legal in California since 1996. However state regulation standards have not been upheld as many cannabis products that are available in dispensaries have been discovered with alarming amounts of pesticide. 

An investigation conducted by the LA Times in collaboration with the cannabis industry newsletter WeedWeek revealed that 25 out of the 42 legal cannabis products purchased from retail stores contained pesticide concentrations either above state-permitted levels or exceeding federal standards for tobacco.

California law requires cannabis to be tested for 66 pesticides. A law by the way that has not been reviewed since 1998. Tests conducted by the investigators’ private lab showed seven off-list pesticides in legal products on store shelves.

“One brand of vape had fenvalerate, a fungicide that’s known to lower sperm counts and has been banned in the U.S. since 2008. Sixteen products included pymetrozine, an insecticide linked to liver cancer and that mimics human hormones, belonging to a group of chemicals called endocrine disruptors, which can lead to reproductive issues over time,” the report states.

They also found propargite, a carcinogenic insecticide that has been linked to brain-cell death and increased incidence of Parkinson’s disease in Central Valley residents.

Soaring demand spurring supply of illegal and poor quality cannabis oil

About 5 million Californians consume cannabis products in a month. The popularity of vapes have also contributed greatly to the market’s supply of illegally grown weed. And when there’s a strong incentive to maximize profit, it encourages growers to increase their yield by any means necessary. 

A test on one product resulted in as many as two dozen types of pesticide. A pink acai vape from Stiiizy was tested and showed more than 60 times the maximum amount of pymetrozine allowed by federal regulators in cigarettes. However because California does not make testing for pymetrozine mandatory, the product is not violating any state regulation. 

After going over confidential lab reports, public records and interviews, the team found that California regulators have largely failed to act on these illegal activities despite the evidence. When contacted, California Department of Cannabis Control officials declined requests for an interview.

The agency also decided not to share any discussions about pesticide contamination, whether internal or external. They didn’t want to disclose how well they can test cannabis products either, explaining that sharing that info might give bad actors a leg up, as the report explained.