Dangerous Pesticides in Medical Marijuana

[TokeO]

I've used MMJ for 6 years, and started to notice that my body reacted differently to the same strain bought from different dispensaries. Heart palpitations and muscle aches were the bad side effects. A friend told me the pesticides used by growers caused those side effects, and introduced me to organic sun-grown MMJ. He showed me the NBC TV underground report showing that 93% of the MMJ in So Cal contain pesticides (google the words NBC pot pesticides). The potency of the organic sun-grown flowers is not as high vs. indoor, but the flowers created a cleaner and tastier smoke. Found a pretty reliable MMJ delivery service that sells only organic flowers. They post the current lab report on their site for each flowers.

I'm curious if anyone else run into the pesticide issue with the MMJ? Why is it still allowed in the MMJ industry?

 

[Dwight Monk]

Every State has different rules as to what is allowed and what isn't, so imagine it varies widely from depending on where you live. Not just Pesticides/Herbicides you have to worry about, in example some "Plant Nutrients" make pretty Flowers but aren't intended for "food products" and Cannabis isn't classified as a Food everywhere and IMHO should be treated as such. As it being illegal on the Federal level probably don't help things either.

 

[TokeO]

I'm going organic flowers from now on. Funny when I shared the info about the dangerous chemicals in the buds, another friend told me that he would only use more potent indoor buds. I believe that the chemicals increase the potency of the buds. I hope that other MMJ users will be aware of the dangerous poisons in their buds.

 

[SwAggNiFiCeNt]

Same this up here in Canada. Recalls n other issues due to illegal use of pesticides at numerous commercial grow facilities that provide medicine for patients across the country. Really sad to hear this sort of thing.

 

[TokeO]

Also sad to see other patients choosing the higher THC content over cleaner organic flowers. For 6 years, I was never informed by the MMJ dispensaries about the dangerous chemicals, and had to find out from a friend. My current dispensary, 678meds.com sells all organic flowers so I don't have to worry anymore. Sadly, the other dispensaries care more about the $$$ and not the patients.

 

[Big Sur]

I would think that the reactions that you are having are more from 'different' strains rather than pesticides. Just because a dispensary says its White Widow or Gorilla Glue #4 does not mean that it is actually WW or GG #4. There is no standard for potency, nor for testing genetics. Anyone can pretty much call any strains whatever they want, really. Also even if you grow the same strains under different conditions, the resulting cannabinoid and terpene levels will be different, and the high will be different.

It can also be issues with 'organic' pesticides used. Just because someone grows organic does not mean there will not be any pesticide residue. There is a large list of legal organic pesticides, including Neem oil, Aza (Azadirachtarin), and pyrethrins in particular. You could be sensitive to any of those, and they are considered safe and organic, and generally are not tested for (though pyrethrins have been found in some lots tested by labs in Oregon weed in high amounts, and the lots were flagged by the labs and had to be used in making oil which strips any pesticide residue). You could be sensitive to any number of organic (or inorganic) pesticides. You could also be sensitive to soap or oil sprays. There are many of those out there as well, and they are mostly organic.

Now in California the pesticide regulations are stricter than pretty much anywhere else. Or they will be shortly. Here in Oregon every harvested lot of weed has to be tested for pesticides before it can be sold. So its all pretty safe here. All of this said, many pesticide dissipate rather rapidly. Abamectin for example (sold as Avid) is a strong miticide and pesticide and it is certainly not organic (though it is derived from organic sources, so I have issues with its classification), but it will dissipate within 45 days time. It will dissipate faster (usually in a matter of days) in UV light. I know many people that have sprayed with Avid early on and had it tested after 45 days and it passed lab tests with 0 residue of abamectin. Aza will also dissipate rather rapidly, especially in UV light. So again, how its grown can make a huge difference in the results.

 

[TokeO]

Thanks BigSur for the detailed info on the pesticides. I live in Southern California, and the majority (93%) of the buds here contain pesticides (NBC TV report in 2/2017). The dispensary, where I buy the organic MMJ now, has the test report for Gorilla Glue #4, my fav strain. I got different side effects for this strain when buying from other dispensaries. The organic GG #4 is definitely clean with no side effects. Thanks again BigSur!

 

[Big Sur]

I seriously doubt the high levels of that report's findings. But it does not really matter, because as I read it now, when medical marijuana goes away in California, and it will go away and be replaced by rec weed, rec weed will have VERY stringent testing requirements. The most stringent of any state so far. California is going a lot farther than Oregon which requires testing for mold, pesticides and % potency. The latest released info from the state says that in California labs will be testing for residual solvents and processing chemicals, microbiological contaminants (mold), mycotoxins (mold and bacteria produced toxins), foreign materials (lint, dirt, fillers, etc), heavy metals, pesticides, moisture content and canabinoid potency (% of CBD and THC). They may also test for terpenes (optional) and less common cannabinoids (other than CBD and THC). Labs are also required to test for E. coli, Salmonella and multiple species of the pathogenic Aspergillus.

So in the future, the idea of bad legal rec weed in California will be a thing of the past. Black market weed? That is something else.