Where weed is legal, it isn’t a guarantee of product safety

The Importance of Regulatory Reform to the Medical Use of Cannabis, Alcohol, and Other Substantial Contaminants in the 21st Century

Cannabis can be sold in forty states for either medical or recreational use. Cannabis is still illegal under federal law. That means agencies like the Food and Drug administration don’t regulate the growing or testing of the product.

She said that there is research on molds like Aspergillus, which can lead to serious medical issues for users of marijuana who have beenpromised with the drug. Smoking and e-cig use have no data on how much of the carcinogens end up in the lungs.

There’s a concern for consumers who choose to partake, that the vape may contain traces of harmful substances. State regulators are trying to get their arms around the problem but, researchers say, they have a ways to go.

All of those things have the potential to cause harm either in the short term — with an ER visit for vomiting, for example, which microorganisms could trigger — or in the long term, increasing your risk for certain cancers or neurological problems.

It is not certain how effective these consumer protections might be, but if you shop at a store that has regulated products, there will be less chance that you will find many things in your cannabis.

Some 30 states that had legalized cannabis at that time have 600 contaminants that are regulated. Typically, in each jurisdiction, there’s only between 60 to 120 contaminants that are regulated.

Underground producers and distributors have a huge opening due to the restrictions. NPR has found those products are often grown and processed in unsanitary conditions with banned pesticides and unhealthy working conditions. And they typically don’t have trustworthy potency guidelines.

“We’re talking about a market that lacks transparency and accountability. Whether I was getting cannabis or alcohol or my broccoli from an unregulated market, I’d be concerned about any number of issues,” says Paul Armentano, deputy director of NORML, the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.

“When you move from prohibition to legalization, it takes time to significantly reduce the size of the illegal market,” said Beau Kilmer at the RAND Drug Policy Research Center.

The end of alcohol prohibition in the 1930s was messy according to drug policy experts. It took a while for alcohol makers to stamp out the bootleggers.

Legal cannabis producers think that the regulated marijuana brands will win over time. That’ll make it easier for consumers to know which products to grab off the shelf.

In California, there were more than 60 recalls in 2024. That includes cannabis flower buds, pre-rolled marijuana cigarettes, edibles and vape products. That’s up from just four cannabis recalls the year before in the state. According to officials, that’s due to increased testing.

The increase in recalls is a positive sign that the system is working and shows Zarha that she and her teams have done a good job.

“I think it’s indicative of the fact that the department is putting out all the stops to make sure that the tools and resources that we have are being used to keep consumers safe,” she says.

“The general public largely assumes, ‘Hey, it’s in a state-regulated store. It’s got to be as pure and regulated as any other product I buy in a state-regulated market.’ “

“You’re not gonna keel over if you buy some cheap suspect weed,” said Mitchell. Someone who smoked cleaner weed won’t have a lung problem 10 years down the road.

There’s a dispensary he can walk to, but he gets in his car to drive to a place that has marijuana he can trust. That is available to someone with deep knowledge of the industry.

The State of the Marijuana Enforcement Division: What is it telling us? What can we do about it? A question that Justin Singer may have pondered

“People assume it’s safe because of guardrails that are in place by state enforcement,” said Mitchell. “But when you actually look at the end result, I think that’s up for debate definitely.”

Justin Singer makes edible cannabis products in Colorado under the names Ripple and Ript, and over the years, he has become increasingly concerned about the state’s lack of enforcement of the industry and what that means for the safety of the marijuana supply.

When Singer released a much cheaper product to the market, and increased sales by 500%, he expected that it would cause an inspection from the state Marijuana Enforcement Division.

“The kind of guy who wants an honest playing field,” Singer said. “Professional sports would not be fun if there were no referees and one team was allowed to cheat, while one team tried to follow the rules. It wouldn’t be fun to watch, to participate in.

He had people buy marijuana products from dispensary shelves and have them tested at a lab. He shared the testing data with NPR and it showed four products would have failed the state limit for yeasts.

Colorado weed is comparable to New York street weed in 2008. Singer said that the cartels probably cared about their consumers more than a lot of people here. “I’ve got the data to back it.”

Every state has their own regulations for legal marijuana. Marijuana authorities in Massachusetts and Alabama require testing for coliform. Colorado does not. Even if states test for the same microbes, they often have different limits. Colorado’s standard for total yeasts and molds is 10 times lower than Michigan’s limits for recreational cannabis flower.

“If we require that dog food follow this, but we don’t require that for cannabis, something that many people are using as medicine, to follow these kind of basic food safety guidelines, then I don’t know what the industry is doing,” said Eidem. I know that the industry feels like it’s overregulated and it very much is.

The director of the Marijuana Enforcement Division wouldn’t comment onwether the supply of marijuana is safe, but said there is a process in place to make sure it isn’t contaminated.

The MED has issued 97 health and safety notices since 2016. But the advisories at times include marijuana products that were sold and likely consumed months, or even years, before. That suggests either the product was contaminated at some point after it left the grow or in storage — or testing is not always finding dirty weed.

Mendiola said that they do see a need to work on that. “And ensure that we are reaching consumers effectively, that we are providing information that they ultimately need to determine: do they have certain products that we’ve identified as a potential threat to health and safety?”

She said they updated the health and safety notice page online, and will soon distribute flyers to educate consumers.

Source: Even where weed is legal, product safety isn’t guaranteed

Marijuana is legal, but the safety isn’t guaranteed: State and local effects on the marijuana and manufacturing sector in the U.S.

Prices for marijuana have crashed after a huge influx of investment during the PAIN lockdowns when sales were growing quickly, which is hurting the industry. License revenue that funds MED enforcement is limited by the closing of businesses. She mentioned that they are downsizing in order to cut costs.

“We have been looking at ways to save costs and still allow us to do our job, that way we’re able to carry out our regulatory obligations,” said Mendiola.

“I think at this point in Colorado you’re dealing with the safest weed you can have in the United States,” said Ethan Shaw, co-founder of The Flower Collective. There’s a lot of things Colorado’s learned that other states have not, and one of those is heavy metals.

Shaw noted that there has been a slowing of the rate of recalls in Colorado. He said that Colorado’s financial struggles are affecting the number of producers.

It’s hard to judge if it’s right or wrong when there’s no data to support it, said a senior research scientist in Boulder.

Source: Even where weed is legal, product safety isn’t guaranteed

Using irradiation technology to test a marijuana product at a cannabis grower’s farm or a retail store, and why marijuana is illegal in California

When a marijuana product fails a test, growers in Colorado and other states can use irradiation technology to treat it. The process is approved in food, with required labeling. She said that a grower can hit the cannabis buds with x-ray until it passes testing. The process breaks down the chemical bonds of molds and bacteria, enough for them to die or stop multiplying, according to the EPA.

Currently, what’s required is that products pass a final test. The process can be hard on growers, who are already dealing with a decline in sales prices. Stores and grows are closing.

Shaun Opie, with E4 Bioscience in Michigan, is an expert in marijuana contaminants and lab testing. He said the money sunk into a harvest means there’s tremendous pressure to get it to market.

Opie said it would be a good idea for states to implement a shelf surveillance testing program, to monitor the product that actually makes it to consumers.