Pesticides In Pot: Overlooked Dangers Of California's Legal Weed

Cannabis regulators and industry advocates have, for a long time, contended that licensed marijuana products are safer and cleaner than those circulating on the illicit market. Logical, right? Not necessarily. An analysis published Thursday by the Los Angeles Times challenges that claim and reveals comparable pesticide contamination rates in legal and illicit cannabis.

Testing 16 products from unlicensed sellers and tobacco shops, the Times found that half had no detectable pesticides, mirroring the pesticide-free rate in California's legal market. This, despite California’s tests for 66 pesticides in licensed products, which fail to detect other harmful compounds identified in the Times investigation.

This similarity apparently "doesn't shock" Josh Swider, CEO and cofounder of Infinite Chemical Analysis Labs, which tests cannabis in California and Michigan. "Normally, the illicit market is just buying from the legal market brokers. It's not like there really are two different markets," he said, according to the Times.

California's Department of Cannabis Control naturally defends the regulated market, stating that its oversight ensures "far greater consumer safety than the unregulated alternative."

Logical? Not Quite

Some unregulated products were pesticide-free because they contained synthetic THC variants, such as Delta-8, derived from chemically processed hemp. These compounds, while inexpensive to produce, carry unknown health risks due to these chemical byproducts. "It's not a pesticide problem, but it has other health implications," Swider said.

Notably, synthetic THC is not confined to the illicit market. The Times report uncovered lab-created cannabinoids in vape pens sold by various legal brands. While synthetic THC is banned in California's legal market, the state doesn't screen for it, hence not so logical.

Michigan regulators, on the other hand, have validated tests to identify these compounds.

Health Hazards

The analysis also uncovered troubling health hazards. The Times looked at a vape from an unlicensed East LA shop that contained vitamin E acetate, which was linked to severe lung injuries, thousands of hospitalizations and 68 deaths during the 2019 vape crisis. The state of California does not screen for Vitamin E acetate, which is used to dilute vape cartridges.

Ironically, the most pesticide-laden products came from legal sellers. One brand, Backpack Boyz vape bought at a licensed shop contained 32 pesticides. State regulators quickly shut down the manufacturer, though Backpack Boyz claimed the contaminated products were counterfeits, according to the LA Times.

Pesticide types varied between markets, with illicit products often containing banned chemicals from California's screening list. In contrast, legal products were often found to contain unscreened pesticides like pymetrozine, a carcinogenic insecticide that did not show up in any unregulated cannabis products.

Now Read:

• All Once Again Warned: Unregulated Cannabis Vapes Contain Dangerous Pesticides, Study Says

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