Pubdate: Thu, 03 Sep 2015
Source: Denver Post (CO)
Copyright: 2015 The Denver Post Corp
Contact:  http://www.denverpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/122
Author: David Migoya

DENVER TESTS CLEAR SUSPECT POT

Lab Tests Find No Trace of Unapproved Pesticide in Seized Marijuana.

Denver health officials Wednesday lifted a day-old order to hold 
hundreds of marijuana-infused lozenges and raw marijuana from two 
businesses after lab tests showed no trace of an unapproved pesticide 
among their ingredients.

The owners of Mountain High Suckers and MMJ America each said they 
had been using old labels that included among their ingredients a 
pesticide that today is not approved for use on marijuana.

The pesticide, spinosad, had not been barred for use when the labels 
were made, the owners said.

It "looks like this was just an unfortunate labeling issue," said Dan 
Rowland, Denver's spokesman for its office of marijuana policy.

State law requires marijuana companies to list on their product 
labels all pesticides, contaminants and herbicides used in the 
production process.

The city's enforcement action is the latest in a series of actions 
related to pesticides used on recreational and medicinal marijuana.

Because the drug remains illegal under federal law, the U.S. 
Environmental Protection Agency will not establish any allowable 
pesticide uses on marijuana.

Technically, no regulated pesticide can be used on marijuana legally. 
But state agriculture officials have said as long as its use does not 
violate a pesticide's label warnings and restrictions, it can be used.

On Monday, Denver warned businesses that products listing unapproved 
pesticides should be removed from shelves and destroyed or returned 
to the manufacturer.

Inspectors ordered tests and the product holds Tuesday after spotting 
spinosad listed among ingredients of Mountain High's lozenges and raw 
marijuana at MMJ America's Arapahoe Street shop. The tests did not 
detect spinosad, city officials confirmed.

Mountain High had been using old labels from when it purchased 
marijuana trimming from a grower that had been using spinosad, 
Mountain High co-owner Chad Tribble said. That was before the state 
said it could not, he said.

"Back then it wasn't a problem," Tribble said. "We just didn't look 
back on the labels. It was a mistake. It was on there, but the tests 
were clear, undetected. We've never had a black mark before."

He said news of the city's action brought calls from as far off as Las Vegas.

"Not only did we test negative for all pesticides, we were told by 
the city that just crossing off the name because we already had the 
bags printed was acceptable," MMJ owner Jake Salazar said. Officials 
later told him he needs to reprint the labels, he said.

"We order pre-printed bags, 70,000 units every time. Last time we 
ordered them, this wasn't a banned substance. We now have to throw 
all of those bags away and reorder 70,000 more without that 
ingredient, which we clearly don't use," Salazar said.

The state's list of pesticides approved for use on marijuana has been 
in the drafting stage for about 18 months. The state will not say the 
pesticides are safe for use on marijuana, only that their use does 
not violate label restrictions on how they should be used.

Some pesticides are so nontoxic that the EPA does not require them to 
be registered nor restrict their use. Those can be used on marijuana, 
but the industry has complained that they aren't potent enough to 
eradicate the kinds of pests and mildews that can decimate a crop 
potentially worth millions of dollars.

The city in the spring held more than 100,000 marijuana plants at 11 
grow operations over concerns that unapproved pesticides had been used on them.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom