Pubdate: Wed, 13 Feb 2013
Source: San Jose Mercury News (CA)
Copyright: 2013 San Jose Mercury News
Contact:  http://www.mercurynews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/390
Author: Kristen Wyatt, Associated Press
Page: A8

STATES WRESTLE WITH LEGAL MARIJUANA REGULATIONS

Officials Address Safety, Quality Issues As Washington, Colorado
Prepare for Sales

DENVER (AP) - Marijuana may be coming out of the black market in
Colorado and Washington state, but the drug, at least for now, will
retain a decidedly underground feel: Users may not know what's in it.

Less than a year away from allowing pot sales, regulators are
grappling with how to ensure that the nation's first legal marijuana
industry will grow weed that delivers only the effects that pot
smokers want.

Whether it is establishing rules to govern the growing of marijuana,
including the use of pesticides and fungicides, or accurate product
labeling, officials know they will be doing it alone.

Federal agencies that regulate food and drugs are staying out because
pot remains illegal under federal law. That means the states are
starting from scratch to protect consumers from pot that could be
tainted by mold, mildew or unwanted chemicals.

Whatever regulatory scheme officials in the states choose, there is
little reliable product history to even know where to begin
identifying marijuana safety risks, said David Acheson, a food safety
consultant.

When it was illegal, few users could come into the health department
to complain that a stash of weed they bought was bad, said Acheson, a
former assistant commissioner for the Food and Drug
Administration.

"As it becomes legal, we could see many problems emerge. We just don't
know," he said.

Medical marijuana product safety has long been a concern in Colorado.
Critics say the regulations were too loosely lax, and that any new
regulations for pot should be stringent, and rigorously enforced.

Colorado has one operational product testing facility for marijuana
potency and content. Product testing is voluntary and paid for by
interested pot consumers and sellers, not state regulators.

"I've seen stuff in grow houses - oh my God, you don't even want to
know about," said Genifer Murray, the owner of CannLabs, a Denver lab
that tests marijuana. She said she has seen cans of bug spray next to
marijuana, plants covered with powdery mildew and lax sanitation.

"There's no other plant like this that you smoke and eat and use as
medicine," Murray said. "Everybody's entitled to a safe and effective
product, and right now it's completely hit and miss. What exactly are
you buying?"

Colorado requires labels on edible pot, including an ingredient list
and recommended expiration date. Potency and dosing, though, are
currently left to the buyer to fi gure out. Labels read, "Levels of
active components of medical marijuana reported on product labels are
not subject to independent verification and may differ from actual
levels."
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MAP posted-by: Matt