{"id":35973,"date":"2017-04-19T17:30:00","date_gmt":"2017-04-19T17:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/merryjane.com\/the-complex-world-of-cannabis-lab-testing-dangerous-pesticides-and-how-they-go-undetected\/"},"modified":"2017-04-19T17:30:00","modified_gmt":"2017-04-19T17:30:00","slug":"the-complex-world-of-cannabis-lab-testing-dangerous-pesticides-and-how-they-go-undetected","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/merryjane.com\/health\/the-complex-world-of-cannabis-lab-testing-dangerous-pesticides-and-how-they-go-undetected\/","title":{"rendered":"The Complex World of Cannabis Lab Testing: Dangerous Pesticides and How They Go Undetected"},"content":{"rendered":"
For more on lab testing, revisit our article from last week: <\/span>The Complex World of Cannabis Lab Testing: Ethics, Regulations, and Lack Thereof<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/h6>\n

\nCalifornia’s recreational Prop 64<\/a><\/span> goes into effect January 1, 2018 with a slew of regulations, monitoring not only the pesticide levels allowed in cannabis products, but the previously unregulated labs testing them<\/a>. A solid testing system would entail manufacturers sending their extracts, edibles, or flower to an independent distributor, who would take them to an independent lab. The lab would then tell the distributor exactly what was in the product, from cannabinoid and terpene profiles, to microbiological impurities and harmful pesticides. The product would either pass or fail, and we’d all know what’s up. However, as lab testing isn’t yet mandatory<\/a> — marijuana isn’t federally legal, and therefore isn’t regulated by the FDA — an immensely profitable industry<\/a> operates unsupervised. Not everyone wants you to know what’s lurking in the products they’re selling you.<\/p>\n

The use of pesticides in cultivation magnifies a division in the cannabis community, separating veterans concerned with integrity from newcomers concerned with cash. As we explored last week,<\/span> California’s transition to legality has sparked an inundation of the latter<\/a>, with investors from other industries thinking they can throw money at a grow, sit back, and then count paper come harvest time. However, growing top-shelf weed is hard. Mites, molds, and other bane<\/a> can ruin a crop, causing massive fiscal loss for all involved. To prevent all this, pesticides are often utilized by those new to the industry, as these players lack organic farming knowledge and can’t harvest without them. This isn’t good. Though pesticides like Eagle 20 can boost bud’s appearance, the chemicals are toxic and they shouldn’t be consumed, much less combusted and inhaled. But how often does this happen? And how will reckless growers be held accountable in the upcoming months leading up to recreational legalization in California?<\/p>\n

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To understand the role pesticides play in lab testing, Pete Pietrangeli, owner of<\/span> Melrose dispensary LA Confidential<\/a>, linked me with fantastic sources. Dr. Jeff Raber, “the most informed professional I know revolutionizing the cannabis industry,” according to Pete, is CEO of The Werc Shop<\/a>, an independent testing facility out of Washington. Alec Dixon is the co-founder of SC Labs<\/a>, one of the most reputable independent lab testing facilities in California, and Steve DeAngelo<\/a>, author, activist, and founder of Harborside Health Center<\/a>, who was recently named one of the most the most powerful people in cannabis by Fortune Magazine<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n

“You see different sides of the industry come through,” says Alec Dixon of SC Labs. “There are movement growers, who’d never consider spraying a pesticide because they believe they’re part of something bigger, and then there’re people just in it for the money. The money people have it built into their cycle that every time they launch flower, they fog the room.”<\/span><\/p>\n