{"id":6029,"date":"2023-07-27T19:20:47","date_gmt":"2023-07-27T12:20:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/?p=6029"},"modified":"2023-07-27T19:20:47","modified_gmt":"2023-07-27T12:20:47","slug":"cannabis-and-pesticides","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/?p=6029","title":{"rendered":"Cannabis and Pesticides"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>The biggest barrier to reducing toxic pesticides in cannabis is, not surprisingly, the cannabis industry itself.<\/p>\n<p>California was the first state to legalize medical marijuana. When labs started reporting they were finding high levels of pesticide residues, the Los Angeles city government \u201ccovertly <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/23737769\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">acquired<\/a> and then tested three medical cannabis samples available to patients through dispensaries and found that in two of the [three] samples exceedingly high levels of bifenthrin [a pesticide] were found,\u201d up to a thousand times the legal limit.<\/p>\n<p>But how much ends up inside the consumer? As I discuss in my video <a href=\"https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/video\/pesticides-in-marijuana\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Pesticides in Marijuana<\/strong><\/a>, only about 10 percent of the pesticides in tobacco <a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/23737769\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">make<\/a> it through a filtered cigarette, which was found to be comparable to using cannabis in a water pipe with filters attached. But, as you can see in the graph below and at 0:45 in my <a href=\"https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/video\/pesticides-in-marijuana\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>video<\/strong><\/a>, if you <a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/23737769\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">use<\/a> a regular bong, about half of the pesticides end up in your lungs, and using a glass pipe is even worse. Because most users don\u2019t attach a carbon filter with 7.5 grams of activated charcoal to their bongs, \u201cin general the portion of pesticide recovery is alarmingly high and is a serious concern.\u201d \u201cAlthough it <a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/28173984\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">remains<\/a> unknown precisely how damaging these chemicals are to humans, the fact they are present in smoke at such high levels should be concerning.\u201d According to researchers, \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/23737769\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Considering<\/a> these results, high pesticide exposure through cannabis smoking is a significant possibility, which may lead to further health complications in cannabis consumers\u201d\u2014especially if we\u2019re talking about medical marijuana use by sick, vulnerable people.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-94136\" src=\"https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2023\/07\/0-45.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2023\/07\/0-45.png 1920w, https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2023\/07\/0-45-960x540.png 960w, https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2023\/07\/0-45-1024x576.png 1024w, https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2023\/07\/0-45-768x432.png 768w, https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2023\/07\/0-45-1536x864.png 1536w, https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2023\/07\/0-45-480x270.png 480w, https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2023\/07\/0-45-1200x675.png 1200w, https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2023\/07\/0-45-720x405.png 720w, https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2023\/07\/0-45-540x304.png 540w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\"\/><\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe potential of pesticide and chemical residue exposures to cannabis users is substantial and may pose a significant toxicological threat in the absence of adequate regulatory frameworks.\u201d Okay, so what are states doing about it? Colorado recently <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/28343113\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">suffered<\/a> some high profile recalls of marijuana batches contaminated with harmful pesticides that made it into some of the edibles. Evidently, \u201cgrowers sometimes <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/28173984\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">find<\/a> themselves quite overwhelmed by pest issues\u2026[and] resort to nuclear tactics,\u201d trying anything to protect their crops. This has created \u201ca public safety threat,\u201d with \u201cintensified toxicity in concentrated products of particular concern.\u201d In fact, \u201cpesticide levels were approximately 10x higher in concentrated cannabis products,\u201d like the oils and waxes sometimes used in edibles or dabbed as concentrates, \u201cthan the flower heads.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A study of pesticide use on cannabis crops in Oregon found a similar problem. A survey of samples off of store shelves in Washington state <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC5022003\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">found<\/a> five out of six to be contaminated, including with \u201cpotentially neurotoxic and carcinogenic agents.\u201d Many samples \u201charbored multiple contaminants,\u201d attaining levels that were basically off the chart, including 24 distinct pesticide agents, insecticides, and fungicides, and none of them is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/23737769\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">approved<\/a> for use on cannabis. But it isn\u2019t their fault. The EPA hasn\u2019t approved any because cannabis is still a federally illegal crop. In fact, testing labs in California have \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC5022003\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">become<\/a> hesitant to publicize their service or list agents for which they could assay [test], as they suspected that such information\u201d might just be used as an instruction manual of sorts by \u201cunscrupulous growers to seek out possibly more toxic agents.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>So just regulate it then. That\u2019s been <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/27650812\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">tried<\/a>, but guess what the biggest barrier has been? Surprise, surprise, it has <a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/28365173\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">been<\/a> the multibillion-dollar cannabis industry. \u201cLike the tobacco industry before it, the cannabis industry is attempting to weaken pesticide regulations pertaining to cannabis. Reportedly, the Colorado Department of Agriculture: \u2018\u2026initially hoped to limit permissible pesticides to the most nontoxic,\u2019\u201d but this proposal was quashed by industry pushback, just like the tobacco industry has been <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/16330343\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">able<\/a> to do.<\/p>\n<p>Big Tobacco \u201chas <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/24918955\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">provided<\/a> a detailed road map\u201d for King Cannabis: \u201cDeny addiction potential, downplay known adverse health effects, create as large a market as possible as quickly as possible, and protect that market through lobbying, campaign contributions, and other advocacy efforts.\u201d Indeed, \u201cbolstered by enormous profits,\u201d the tobacco industry was able to get itself \u201cexempted from every major piece of consumer protection legislation even after the deadly consequences of tobacco were established.\u201d That should be a cautionary tale for us now, given that public health advocates have definitively fewer billions of dollars to work with.<\/p>\n<p>Big Tobacco may not just be providing the roadmap, but <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/24890245\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">waiting<\/a> in the wings to own the road. \u201cAs a result of litigation against the tobacco industry, more than 80 million pages of internal company documents became available\u2026.These documents reveal that since at least 1970, despite fervent denials, major multinational tobacco companies,\u201d including Philip Morris, have been scheming, willing, and prepared to enter the legalized marijuana market to become Big Blunt. \u201cBecause of the tobacco industry\u2019s demonstrated ability and willingness to modify its products to increase addictiveness, obfuscate information, deceive the public, and use advertising to target vulnerable groups to increase demand, the industry also has the power to dramatically change (and expand) the use of marijuana.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>For more on the link between the tobacco and cannabis industries, check out <a href=\"http:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/video\/will-cannabis-turn-into-big-tobacco\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Will Cannabis Turn Into Big Tobacco?<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"et_social_bottom_trigger\"\/>  <\/div>\n<p><script>\n            !function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s)\n            {if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?\n                n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};\n            if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0';\n            n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;\n            t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];\n            s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window, document,'script',\n                'https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/fbevents.js');\n            fbq('init', '1582627921973608');\n            fbq('track', 'PageView');\n        <\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><div data-type=\"_mgwidget\" data-widget-id=\"1675549\">\r\n<\/div>\r\n<script>(function(w,q){w[q]=w[q]||[];w[q].push([\"_mgc.load\"])})(window,\"_mgq\");\r\n<\/script>\r\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The biggest barrier to reducing toxic pesticides in cannabis is, not surprisingly, the cannabis industry itself. California was the first state to legalize medical marijuana. When labs started reporting they were finding high levels of pesticide residues, the Los Angeles city government \u201ccovertly acquired and then tested three medical cannabis samples available to patients through &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":6030,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6029","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6029","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6029"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6029\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6030"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6029"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6029"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6029"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}