Fall 2014 Edition
Oregon Dispensary Connection
Oregon Dispensary
Connection
supposed to do with the batch of contaminated cannabis after it is returned.)
Oregon medical cannabis patients are likely aware that current state regulations require dispensaries to test their medicine for pesticide residues. Testing requirements can help protect patients from pesticide contaminants and discourages growers from using pesticides. However, Oregon’s cannabis pesticide residue testing is perhaps less useful and more complicated than patients might think. Here’s why. According to Oregon’s Administrative Rules for Medical Marijuana, every batch of cannabis received at a dispensary is supposed to be tested for pesticide residues in four categories of pesticides— chlorinated hydrocarbons, organophosphates, carbamates, and pyrethroids. If test results come back above 0.1 parts per million (ppm) in the any of these four categories of pesticides, the dispensary must return the entire batch to the grower. (The regulation doesn’t specify what the grower is
What medical cannabis patients might not realize is that Oregon’s rules don’t require screens for pesticides in other categories such as fungicides, biopesticides, neonicotinoids, and insect growth regulators. Examples of the types of pesticides not covered under required cannabis pesticide screens include toxic synthetic chemicals that some growers might be tempted to use to knock down mite infestations such as Avid (abamectin), Hexygon (hexythiazox), Forbid (spiromesifen), and Floramite (Bifenazate). (By the way, these four pesticides are prohibited in organic farming.) Cannabis patients might find it strange that Avid, a neurotoxin that is used by some cannabis growers to control spider mites and is registered for use on ornamental plants and Christmas trees but not food crops, is not part of the State’s required pesticide residue testing. The point is, that just because a cannabis sample passes a state compliant pesticide residue test doesn’t necessarily mean it is pesticide free.
Of course nothing in the state regulations prohibit dispensaries from conducting more comprehensive screens for chemicals like those found in Avid, yet the regulation doesn’t require it either. The regulation also doesn’t specify which chlorinated hydrocarbons, organophosphates, carbamates, or pyrethroids pesticides should be tested for.
Oregon. Smith said he first offered dispensaries a comprehensive pesticide residue screen that included chemicals within the mandatory testing groups plus residue screens for other common pesticides used in cannabis production from other groups like insect growth regulators, neonicotinoids, and biopesticides. But dispensaries didn’t want it.
But a solution to this problem is not as simple as increasing the number of pesticide categories that are being tested. For example, if you expand the testing dragnet to include fungicides and biopesticides, without specifying exactly which pesticide residues to test for, you could get positive test results for less toxic pesticides that are approved for use in organic farming systems.
“I first came to the market with the long list. Honestly, I didn't realize I was in competition with labs who were offering ‘state compliant’ testing for less than half the price of my panel and giving no specific information about what they were testing for. So I came out with the short list—which is still technically considered to be ‘state compliant’ as it touches a number of compounds from each of the OAR listed classes. Dispensaries and patients typically only see the difference in price, assuming any ‘state compliant’ testing must be essentially the same.”
Another interesting point with Oregon’s mandatory pesticide residue testing is the limit of 0.1 ppm. The EPA residue tolerances for pesticides on food crops is often set well above 0.1 ppm, so limiting pesticide residue on cannabis to below 0.1 ppm could mean Oregon’s medical cannabis, even with loose testing guidelines, might still be cleaner than some food crops. Executive scientist for Kenevir Research, Dr. Anthony Smith, runs a cannabis testing lab in southern
But they aren’t the same. At some labs, state compliant residue testing for cannabis can cost as little as $100 per test, and may only test for 30 pesticides. Some of the pesticides tested for in the cheap screen are often uncommon or include chemicals that were banned in the US more than 40 years ago,
In This Edition Are there Pesticides in your medicine? Pg 1 Organic Gardening and Labeling
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20 Questions For Testing Labs
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Consume Marijuana Responsibly: Don't Be Maureen Dowd
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Canna-Food Safety
Pg 6
like DDT. More comprehensive pesticide tests are available but they are more expensive and dispensaries might not want to pay more for costly screens when the cheaper tests meet state requirements. Of course, some dispensaries do pay more for comprehensive screens. Chelsea Hopkins, director of The Greener Side in Eugene says she contracts with a cannabis lab that offers a comprehensive residue screen. Ms. Hopkins says her dispensary has developed systems for managing the cost of residue testing and sees it playing an essential role. “Cannabis is people’s medicine, so testing isn’t a burden for us. It is really important,” said Hopkins. But she also