New tests find ‘hidden’ pesticides, in more California weed brands. Regulators ignored warnings
4 days, 19 hours ago

New tests find ‘hidden’ pesticides, in more California weed brands. Regulators ignored warnings

LA Times  

For Santa Cruz County cannabis farmers battling infestations of aphids, one chemical in particular worked wonders. “If California can’t get this right, it would be a tremendous tragedy,” a Trinity County cannabis consultant, John Brower, complained this fall to the advisory board that guides the state Department of Cannabis Control. The analysis checked for more than 290 pesticides beyond the 66 chemicals already included in California’s mandatory screening requirement for cannabis products, a state list that has remained unchanged since guidelines were created in 2017. One of the state’s largest oil manufacturers, Sisu Extracts said it found 60% of the cannabis crops farms offered for sale contained pesticides not on California’s screening list. Toxicologists within the pesticide department subsequently proposed small changes in the levels allowed for pesticides on California’s 66-pesticide cannabis screening list — proposals repeatedly ignored by cannabis regulators.

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California struggles to keep pesticides out of weed
2 days, 19 hours ago

California struggles to keep pesticides out of weed

LA Times  

Among 80 cannabis brands included in more than 500 pesticide tests. Here’s what you need to know to start your weekend: New tests find hidden pesticides are in California cannabis products More than half of cannabis smoking products in California’s legal market contain chemicals that are not being monitored for public safety, my colleague Paige St. John reports in a …

Cannabis conundrum: Legal doesn’t mean clean; illicit isn’t always dirty
4 days, 19 hours ago

Cannabis conundrum: Legal doesn’t mean clean; illicit isn’t always dirty

LA Times  

California cannabis regulators and industry defenders argue that despite the proliferation of pesticides found in legal weed, licensed products are still safer and purer than those sold on the underground market. The pesticide adulteration rate matched that of products from California’s legal market, which mandates screening for 66 pesticides but ignores scores of other compounds The Times found. The similarity …

California legal weed industry in tumult over pesticides in pot
3 months ago

California legal weed industry in tumult over pesticides in pot

LA Times  

Nicole Elliott, right, Gov. She said The Times reporting of unaddressed pesticide contamination “created an urgency and momentum.” Those concerns were underscored earlier this month when the former laboratory division chief of the Department of Cannabis Control — whose sudden departure was previously reported by The Times — filed a civil lawsuit alleging the agency’s director had long ignored allegations …

Editorial: California’s cannabis regulator is failing the legal marijuana market
4 months, 3 weeks ago

Editorial: California’s cannabis regulator is failing the legal marijuana market

LA Times  

In a state where the illegal marijuana market is still much larger than the legal one, the biggest selling point for consumers is that pricier legal cannabis products are tested, regulated and safe. More than half the legal cannabis products purchased from retail stores as part of the project and tested at private labs showed concentrations of pesticides either above …

Under pressure from weed consumers, California regulators hustle to start testing for pesticides
5 months ago

Under pressure from weed consumers, California regulators hustle to start testing for pesticides

LA Times  

Under intense pressure from millions of weed users, California officials are scrambling to test cannabis products for pesticides following a Times investigation last month revealing that regulators have failed to keep vapes and pre-rolls rife with toxic chemicals out of stores. California Full Coverage: California’s problem with contaminated weed A Los Angeles Times investigation, in conjunction with WeedWeek, finds alarming …

California recalls cannabis vape many months after it was told of contamination
5 months, 4 weeks ago

California recalls cannabis vape many months after it was told of contamination

LA Times  

California cannabis regulators on Tuesday recalled a pesticide-tainted vape, one of scores of contaminated products identified in a Los Angeles Times investigation that disclosed the state for months has known about dangerous chemicals in legal weed sold to the public. “First time I can remember going home unplanned middle of the day.” The owner of another large dispensary chain said …

How dirty is your weed? A joint investigation finds high levels of pesticides in products
6 months ago

How dirty is your weed? A joint investigation finds high levels of pesticides in products

LA Times  

It’s Monday, June 17. But as a joint investigation by The Times and cannabis industry newsletter WeedWeek found, that doesn’t mean it’s safe, as California regulators are often failing to get contaminated cannabis products off shelves. “The contaminants include chemicals tied to cancer, liver failure, thyroid disease and genetic and neurologic harm to users and unborn children,” Times reporter Paige …

A new threat to cannabis users: Smuggled Chinese pesticides
6 months, 1 week ago

A new threat to cannabis users: Smuggled Chinese pesticides

LA Times  

In coordinated raids in September, multiple California agencies stormed a network of illegal cannabis-growing warehouses across Oakland while state cannabis regulators singled out a salmon-colored warehouse complex surrounded by 7,000-volt security fencing. The warehouse building — home to two licensed cannabis operations — was “highly-likely” the conduit that illegal growers used to ship their product into the legal market, a …

‘The War on Drugs Part II’: California taxes, rules are killing small legal weed farms
1 year, 11 months ago

‘The War on Drugs Part II’: California taxes, rules are killing small legal weed farms

LA Times  

When Johnny Casali was a teenager growing weed illegally in the mountains of Northern California, there was always the risk the government would ruin everything — that his plants would be discovered and ripped up, or that he would be discovered and locked up. Johnny Casali, second from left, and partner Rose Moberly, second from right, talk with inspectors from …

Inside California’s pot legalization failures: Corporate influence, ignored warnings
2 years, 3 months ago

Inside California’s pot legalization failures: Corporate influence, ignored warnings

LA Times  

Architects of the effort to legalize pot in California made big promises to voters. We cannot let that happen.” His blue ribbon commission’s report released months later suggested drafters of a legalization initiative consider limiting the number of licenses issued to any one owner “to prevent the growth of a large, corporate marijuana industry dominated by a small number of …

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