m. backes, about medical marijuana: part 2— unraveling LA city atty’s pesticide story (2060)
Pesticides & Politics, Part 2
the second of two guest blogs
concerning medical cannabis safety
by M. Backes
November 11, 2009
The Los Angeles City Attorney’s office found 5.25% of the cannabis samples tested from purchases made at Los Angeles dispensaries (3 out of 52 samples) to contain pesticide residues. Legal thresholds of pesticide residue on cannabis have not yet been established by the EPA or CDPR. By comparison, when the CDPR tests fresh ginger root purchased from California supermarkets, it has found that 5% of samples contain illegally high levels of pesticide residues.
Questions:
Should California state and local officials be concerned about pesticide contamination on medical cannabis?
How does the risk of contaminated cannabis (an unregulated agricultural product) compare with risk associated with regulated agricultural products?
Answers:
California has the strictest pesticide regulations in the nation and these regulations are supervised by the California Department of Pesticide Regulation (CDPR). CDPR makes purchases of produce from California supermarkets and tests this produce for pesticide residues.
Over 30% of California produce purchased from supermarkets has been shown by CDPR testing to possess legal levels of pesticide residues.
1% of all CDPR tested produce, purchased in supermarkets, is found to contain illegal levels of pesticide residues.
The Los Angeles City Attorney’s office found 5.25% of the cannabis samples tested from purchases made at Los Angeles dispensaries (3 out of 52 samples) to contain pesticide residues. Legal thresholds of pesticide residue on cannabis have not yet been established by the EPA or CDPR. By comparison, when the CDPR tests fresh ginger root purchased from California supermarkets, it has found that 5% of samples contain illegally high levels of pesticide residues.
The important consideration is that we are comparing the contamination rates of an unregulated agricultural product (cannabis) with a regulated agricultural product (ginger root).
94.75% of medical cannabis sampled from Los Angeles dispensaries was found to be clean and within California standards for any agricultural product, without any regulation whatsoever. That is remarkable, because it means that nearly all California cannabis producers are currently producing pure cannabis. With sensible and simple regulation, we should easily bring this purity level to 100%.
While politicians should be concerned about the potential for contamination on cannabis, the only solution to prevent this contamination is regulation of how medical cannabis is dispensed. One of the biggest advantages of regulating non-profit dispensaries comes from the oversight provided by intelligent regulation.
Our Los Angeles City Attorney, Carmen Trutanich, has made quite a fuss over pesticide contaminated cannabis. Mr. Trutanich, an avid cigar smoker, might wish to be more concerned about the thirteen different pesticides that tobacco companies regularly use on the crop that comprises his stogie. According to the federal General Accounting Office, twenty-five million pounds of pesticide are used on tobacco crops in the US each year. Tobacco pesticides include some of the most dangerous pesticides used in the United States, according the GAO. These tobacco pesticides can cause acute poisoning, cancer, nervous system damage and birth defects. Mr. Trutanich doesn’t have to spray his cigar with his trusty can of Raid, the prop he used on Fox News to warn of contaminated cannabis, since his cigar already contains plenty of pesticides…
Sources:
California Department of Pesticide Regulation website
Associated Press: “Federal oversight on tobacco pesticides inadequate, report says.” 25 April 2003 – Siobhan McDonough, Associated Press