Demand Pesticide-Free Cannabis for a Better Industry
Until regulations are passed, it’s up to you to ask for cannabis free of pesticides and harmful chemicals.
When we first started growing in the early ’70s, cannabis was just another plant in our kitchen gardens. We shared it with people we deeply care about: our neighbors, our family and friends. So, it’s always been the natural course of action for us to avoid pesticides or harmful chemicals on the plant.
Asking for pesticide-free cannabis now from your providers tells policy makers, dispensary operators and cultivators that you care where you get your cannabis from and how it’s produced.
It’s hard to produce cannabis that is pesticide free. Decades of conventional farming techniques in the state meant spraying pesticides that may be alright to consume in quantities of parts per billion. Igniting those pesticides is a whole other story.
For instance, myclobutanil is sprayed to combat powdery mildew on many crops in California. Regulations on food allow very small traces of it to be consumed. However, when myclobutanil ignites, it turns to cyanide.
Asking for pesticide free is especially important when buying extracts and edibles made with food-grade concentrate. When cannabis is extracted to yield high THC levels for greater potency, pesticide levels are concentrated as well.
Researchers say it isn’t clear whether pesticides and cannabinoids increase at the same rate when concentrated. But they do know that it can increase pesticide residue by six or seven times the original amount from flower to concentrate, depending on the method of extraction.
(You can find the proposed regulations for lab testing here.)
A higher demand for high quality cannabis promotes an industry that is forthright and transparent.
California tends to be the gold standard for new laws and regulations nationwide. When you ask for pesticide free, you’re acting on behalf of others who cannot ask yet. You’re also validating the state and scientists’ ongoing work in creating standardizations for testing, growing, processing, etc.
As it is now, the state and federal government have not deemed any pesticides or herbicides safe for use on cannabis. The use of these chemicals on the plant has not been reviewed for human health risks, environmental and safety hazards.
“You stand before this thing, one of the biggest annual plants in the world, and you try to keep away the mice and slugs and bugs that are about as big as your finger.
You watch this thing go through its growth spurts — behavior changes. It changes under the moon and so forth.
You’re building up your legs, your arms. Everything is connected. It’s all holistic. You don’t need these harmful pesticides.”
— Rick Klein, Blueberry Farms and a first-generation Humboldt Legends Farmer.
Growing Pesticide Free isn’t Easy, But is Necessary
The demands of growing pesticide free can be high. But the payoff is knowing we don’t smoke chemicals that could outweigh any benefits the plant offers. And we don’t harm the world around us.
Humboldt County’s aquatic ecosystems are dear to us. The rivers and creeks nearby are hosts to a lot of life that’s beneficial to that sensitive ecosystem; some of that life includes at-risk species. Runoff from pesticide has and would greatly effect their habitat.
The 2016 Environmental Protection Information Center’s Compliance Handbook lists natural alternatives like cinnamon, rosemary and peppermint essential oils that are legal to use on cannabis and targeted pests.
Water, healthy soil and starting the life of plants out without exposure to harmful chemicals is the first step to maintaining pesticide-free crop.
As farmers feel out the growing pains of the industry, Rick reminds us that we become better farmers with every harvest.
“There’s simplicity to the work of a new, naive grower. Every year, you get a little more sophisticated. Having judged the success of different types of plants, you learn to pick and chose the best females. Then, you learn what they need.”
More resources on choosing Pesticide Free:
- Leafly: “Testing isn’t cheap. Growing organically isn’t easy. If customers want nothing but the cheapest, most potent products, that’s where the industry will go. If customers demand higher quality, pesticide-free flower, concentrates, and edibles, producers and retailers will react accordingly. Your money talks.”
- Cannabis Safety Institute’s White Paper on Pesticides and Weed
- The Cannabis Chemistry Subdivision of the American Chemical Society
- Legal Pest Management Practices for Marijuana Growers in California
- Department of Pesticide Regulation: Pesticide use on Marijuana
Join us for future posts on better growing practices, stories from our Humboldt Legends’ farmers and more. Follow us on Medium. Contact us about this piece at: farmers@humboldtlegends.com
