Pubdate: Fri, 13 Nov 2015
Source: Denver Post (CO)
Copyright: 2015 The Denver Post Corp
Contact:  http://www.denverpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/122
Authors: David Migoya and Ricardo Baca

GUV: FOULED POT IS THREAT

An Executive Order Says Such Marijuana Should Be Destroyed.

Gov. John Hickenlooper on Thursday issued an executive order telling 
state agencies that any marijuana grown with unapproved pesticides is 
a threat to public safety and should be removed from commerce and destroyed.

The order is Hickenlooper's first word on a months-old controversy 
over pesticide use to grow cannabis and a more aggressive approach 
than the half-dozen recalls by Denver heath officials have put on 
thousands of contaminated products, some of it later allowed back 
into commerce.

The order, effective immediately, was the result of a collaboration 
with officials from several state agencies - the departments of 
agriculture, revenue, and public health and environment among them - 
and "provides much needed clarity on the use of pesticides" and how 
agencies should treat them, according to a joint announcement.

"When a pesticide is applied to a crop in a manner that is 
inconsistent with the pesticide's label, and the crop is contaminated 
by that pesticide, it constitutes a threat to the public safety," the 
order says.

The order says agencies should use all investigative and enforcement 
authority to end the threat, "including, but not limited to, placing 
contaminated marijuana on administrative hold and destroying 
contaminated marijuana pursuant to existing law."

Industry spokespersons could not be immediately reached for comment 
late Thursday.

The order comes after Denver Post stories that showed how potentially 
harmful pesticides barred for use on cannabis were still being 
applied and found at high concentrations in products sold to consumers.

The Post also identified how state laws that barred the use of 
certain pesticides were not enforced and that testing requirements 
for pesticide residues were set aside.

"Threat to safety"

Thursday's bulletin specifically mandates state agencies to determine 
any off-label use of a pesticide "a threat to public safety" and 
ensure that the contaminated products are quarantined and destroyed.

That is a stiffer approach than the quarantines and recalls Denver 
health officials have put on marijuana products contaminated with 
unapproved pesticides. In most cases, the products were allowed back 
into commerce once tests confirmed pesticide residues were at levels 
lower than what's allowed on other consumable crops.

Hickenlooper's order appears to leave no room for trace amounts and 
calls for the destruction of the affected plants and any derivative products.

A company could destroy any affected marijuana voluntarily or face 
administrative actions by the state to force the destruction, 
according to a policy statement issued by the chiefs of the three 
state agencies involved.

There is no pesticide specifically approved for use on marijuana 
because the chemicals are regulated by the U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency and cannabis is illegal under federal law.

As a result, there have been no tests to show how pesticides used on 
marijuana could affect consumers or whether their use is safe.

But state agriculture officials have allowed certain pesticides to be 
used on marijuana crops only if it would not violate the restrictions 
of the product's label. It is a violation of federal law to use a 
pesticide contrary to its label.

Despite the prohibitions, The Post revealed in its own testing that a 
number of marijuana-infused products contained high levels of 
pesticides not allowed for use on cannabis.

What followed were a number of recalls issued by the Denver 
Department of Environmental Health after investigations into 
businesses connected with The Post's findings.

Plants quarantined

Although state officials had been batting around pesticide rules for 
more than a year, there was no enforcement until Denver health 
officials quarantined more than 100,000 plants it said were 
improperly grown with pesticides the state said could not be used.

The quarantines came after Denver fire inspectors found potentially 
hazardous pesticides in marijuanagrowing facilities during routine 
inspections this year and reported it to health officials.

The state is amid rulemaking that would strictly limit the pesticides 
that can be used on marijuana only to those whose labels allow for 
unspecified crops; that can be used in greenhouses; and that are not 
prohibited from human consumption. Pesticides allowed in tobacco 
cultivation also would be approved.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom