Imperative Research

Recently, Colorado Senate Bill 17-275 was introduced to seek the possibility of more research on cannabis pesticides and the efficacy of their impact on medical cannabis.

As is often the case when new cannabis legislation is introduced, especially in today’s political climate, many advocates are wary that it will in some way hurt the medical cannabis cause or stunt recreational cannabis business operations, due to further restrictions on pesticides. But those who have looked further into the bill are seeing it as an opportunity to solidify Colorado as a leader of cannabis research, allowing for more knowledge to be gained on the safety concerns of using pesticides on cannabis.

“ . . . this bill will allow for hospitals, universities and other bona fide biomedical research facilities to have direct access to Colorado-produced marijuana, concentrates and products, rather than having to rely on the one federal government facility for research marijuana.”

“I do support this bill, and I think there has been some misunderstanding about what it is really about,” explained Joe Cantalini, who runs Regulatory Affairs & Procurement for Organa Labs in Denver. “I see it largely as a step towards making Colorado a leader in scientific and biomedical research on marijuana. To do so, this bill will allow for hospitals, universities and other bona fide biomedical research facilities to have direct access to Colorado-produced marijuana, concentrates and products, rather than having to rely on the one federal government facility for research marijuana.” Cantalini shared that are many doctors and universities in support of SB-17-275, while the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment supports it as well.

The bill will also call for researching into pesticides to see which of them can be safely used on cannabis and what restrictions would be most advisable for the cannabis industry. This would establish more knowledge about how pesticides react with the plant and what level of pesticide use could be considered as too much.

Colorado has already decided on permitted pesticide use for cannabis cultivation, so the bill will not change current regulations. Instead, it aims to determine which pesticides are safe, in hopes of creating a uniform set of protocols that will help detect pesticides that have been unlawfully applied on cannabis in the state. “As I understand it, state and local agencies want such standards and clarifications so that they can do their jobs more effectively, enabling them to make clearer distinctions and to show how well the regulated Colorado markets are complying and have evolved from their roots, the black or grey caregiver market alternatives, which are unregulated and not tested for health or safety,” Cantalini said.

If it passes, the bill would ensure safer cannabis by providing information about pesticides. While much of this is uncharted territory, this could put Colorado on the map as a research pioneer.