State Regulators Weigh in on Pesticides Like Never Before

[dropcap class=”kp-dropcap”]W[/dropcap]ashington State regulator Erik Johansen gives lots of public talks to farmers about pesticide use, and he expects a mute shrug or maybe one or two questions in response. Not with cannabis.

“The enthusiasm for me to be there is just—they line up afterward to shake my hand, and they thank me,” said the Department of Agriculture policy assistant. “Cannabis growers have as many questions as you have time to answer. If you have handouts, every last one will be gone. They’re hungry for information.”

Fact is: America’s amateur and professional cannabis gardeners are getting more state guidance than ever before.

Medical and recreational cannabis laws in 35 states have forced officials to weigh in on what should be allowed on cannabis crops—which can be tainted with dangerous chemical sprays. State agencies are responding with unprecedented, official lists of allowable pesticides. These guidelines are rudimentary, but they’re a historic start.

State agencies in California, Colorado, Washington, Oregon and beyond are now routinely posting and updating lists of approved pesticides. California’s Water Board released a modest, one-page list. Colorado’s allowable pesticides list is 26 pages long, and Washington’s list is 22 pages long. Oregon released a list of 257 allowed pesticides February 5. America now has a patchwork of cannabis pesticide laws, with two New England states mandating their programs be completely organic.

This guidance is the first minor step in cleaning up America’s cannabis supply. Thousands of consumers will likely sicken themselves or others either applying or consuming pesticides on cannabis.

Significant amounts of black market cannabis, as well as medical and recreational supplies are tainted, experts say. Under total prohibition—cultivators face little official consequences for spraying. Some farmers will do anything to save the valuable crop, which is subject to infestation from dozens of pests and diseases.

The United States’ first medical cannabis law in 1996 and adult use law in 2012 have helped ignite efforts to clean up legal supplies. Since cannabis is still federally illegal, no pesticide is federally approved for use on cannabis. So states are guiding growers to the most benign active ingredients already allowed for use on analogous crops like tobacco or herbaceous herbs. They’re adapting EPA guidelines of “minimal risk” natural pesticides exempt from mandatory approval—often essential oils, and beneficial molds, fungus, insects or other animals.

“Until things change federally—it’s kind of tough,” said Johansen who developed Washington’s allowed list. “It’s not a perfect system, but it’s a system that at least tried to address [the issue] by allowing things that are fairly low in toxicity.”

Legalization regimes have also begun mandating testing of supplies, which have helped reveal commonly banned pesticides in use.

Colorado’s mandatory pesticide screening has resulted in 19 product recalls in 19 weeks as of early February, affecting hundreds of thousands of items in circulation, from vaporizer cartridges to edibles.

In January, an Oregon lab caught the pesticide abamectin in supposedly organic “Guardian Mite Spray.” Washington State regulators verified the finding, leading to a national advisory and the pulling of Guardian from store shelves.

Washington fined two commercial cultivators in the last year, but guidelines can have the most effect on home growers who now have a concise list of allowed products to use, Johansen said.

Usual Suspects – Banned Pesticides Commonly Found in Cannabis

Myclobutanil: Fungicide. Active ingredient in notoriously popular Eagle 20 pesticide. World Health Organization (WHO) considers it “slightly hazardous.” Label warns of nervous system problems and toxic fumes.

Imidacloprid: Insecticide. Found in popular Merit and Mellet brand pesticides. WHO considers it “moderately hazardous.” Considered moderately toxic in ingested or inhaled.

Abamectin and the avermectin chemical family: Insecticide. Found in Avid and Lucid pesticide brands. The Pesticide Action Network lists avermectin as a “bad actor,” and Avid is labelled as “harmful if inhaled.”]]

Just Getting Started

Washington cannabis farmers now have about 80 allowed active pesticide ingredients, versus about 1,000 for an apple farmer. The state is under pressure to add more allowed chemicals.

“I think we’re being fairly conservative and there’s a reason for that. We just don’t have data to go any further,” Johansen said.

Consumers who want to ensure they are inhaling clean products must either grow their own according to new guidelines, or buy products that come with an independent, third party certification for “organic”-grade cleanliness. In Washington, two companies—Certified Dank and Clean Green—provide such certifications.

“It’s tough right now, to be honest with you,” said Johansen. “I think we’re beginning to get a handle on it. The industry by and large has been very supportive.”

In California, the Department of Pesticide Regulation will help set standards for allowable levels of pesticide residue this year, officials told CULTURE.

Jay Feldman at the non-profit Washington D.C. advocacy group Beyond Pesticides said America has a golden opportunity to ensure the next major legal crop is fully organic.

Colorado’s 26-page list is already too lax, Feldman said. States are giving users a false sense of security, when regulators should be enforcing federal law that no pesticide has been evaluated, let alone approved, for use on cannabis. Copying EPA recommendations from tobacco “is really un-protective of public health and the environment,” he said. “I would say it’s worse than nothing.”

Beyond Pesticides advocates banning all pesticides on cannabis, except organic ingredients listed as OMRI-certified (minus registered pesticides) as well as the EPA’s “minimal risk” “25b” list.

Cannabis has a chance to be a global agricultural role model, instead of another dirty crop, he said.

“There’s no reason at this point to open this industry to chemical dependency,” Feldman said. “That’s where the states should be right now. It’s a huge opportunity. I wish we had these opportunities in some other crops that don’t need pesticides.”