Some owners of marijuana businesses are not happy. They are being forced to shut down. Over the last several months, officials collected samples from grow operations and processors along a nearly 5-mile (8-kilometer) stretch of the Okanogan River north of Brewster. This region used to have orchards. This is where fruit growers used the cancer-causing pesticide DDT before the U.S. banned it in 1972. It wasn’t clear how many businesses were affected. Many of these businesses hold multiple licenses.
The word was to shut them down. Cannabis regulators have halted operations at a few of the outdoor pot farms and processing facilities. These are located on a stretch of former fruit orchards in north-central Washington state after testing found high levels of chemicals related to the dangerous pesticide. Cannabis is known for its strong ability to remove contaminants from soil, and it has been studied for use in environmental cleanup. The levels of contaminants can be especially high in marijuana extracts and concentrates.
The Evergreen State is a pioneer in the weed the legal weed game. Washington was one of the first two states, along with Colorado, to legalize the use and sale of cannabis by adults in 2012. The sweeping action announced by the state Liquor and Cannabis Board renewed concerns about pesticides in marijuana and put dozens of people at least temporarily out of work just as they were preparing for spring planting.
This is bad for many in the pit field in Washington. Marijuana growers in the area are now dealing with the legacy of soil contamination at the orchards. The results of tests at seven licensees showed high levels of DDE, a chemical that remains when DDT breaks down. The silver lining is, not much is known about the effects of DDE when smoked. Studies have focused on ingestion of the chemical, such as by eating fruit contaminated with pesticide residue. Not about the effects of inhaling it.
Testing is big in Washington. Under Washington’s testing requirements, samples sent in by businesses are screened for 59 pesticides. For now, DDE is not one of them, but the board said it would begin making rules to require testing for DDE and a related compound, DDD, in cannabis products — though what form that testing might take and whether it would be required of all growers and processors was not clear.
