Pubdate: Fri, 19 Feb 2016 Source: San Francisco Chronicle (CA) Copyright: 2016 Associated Press Contact: http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/submissions/#1 Website: http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/388 COLORADO DEBATES ORGANIC LABELS DENVER (AP) - Marijuana has attracted many labels in its time. On Friday, Colorado lawmakers debate whether the state should give the drug one more often associated with purple carrots than purple haze - certified organic. Colorado starts work Friday on becoming the first state to regulate organic labels in its pot industry, with other legal weed states watching to see whether they too should step in to help consumers wondering what's on their weed. Organic standards are regulated federally, and pot remains illegal at the federal level, meaning there's nothing stopping commercial pot growers from calling their wares organic. "Consumers have a right to know what they're putting in their body," said Colorado Rep. Jonathan Singer, a Democrat sponsoring the bill to create the state-sanctioned labels. The bill has its first hearing Friday in the state House Public Health Care and Human Services Committee. The measure doesn't specify what growers would have to do to get the certification, it instead directs the state's agricultural department to get a third party to draft the regulations. Consumer confusion over organic marijuana peaked in Colorado earlier this year, when Denver health authorities seized thousands of marijuana plants from growers suspected of using off-limits chemicals on their plants. Most of the plants were ultimately released, but some were sold with names that suggested the products were natural or organic. Colorado is likely just the first state to tighten the rules for advertising marijuana products as organic, said Chris Lindsey, legislative analyst for the pro-legalization Marijuana Policy Project. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom