Some marijuana farms are feeling relief after state regulators lifted restrictions against their licenses. Those four cultivators had been prohibited from growing marijuana since April for pesticide contaminations. Going forward, the Liquor and Cannabis Board (LCB’s) Enforcement and Education Division staff will conduct quarterly testing to ensure product safety.
Early this year an investigation began after random testing of marijuana grown in the area – once home to fruit orchards – detected the chemical compound DDE. DDE is created by the breakdown of DDT which is a now-banned pesticide.
The state’s LCB “administrative hold” against the operators in the north-central area of the state where random testing earlier this year made it hard for those companies wanting to do business. However, the board took the detection of the chemical compound DDE seriouslyand acted. DDE is created by the breakdown of the now-banned pesticide DDT. The north-central area was once home to fruit orchards, where DDT was used decades ago.
It was a good day for some as regulators began lifting restrictions against some cultivation operations and cannabis products. This was after data came in showing that DDE levels were “not above action limits.” The LCB provided testing results earlier this month on 108 samples:
61 samples failed with results above 0.1 action limit for DDE (56%), 47 passed with results below 0.1 action limit for DDE (44%).
Back during the initial testing, 18 cannabis cultivation licensees were located in a “five mile stretch of land along the south end of the Okanogan River and north of Lake Pateros.” LCB confirmed at a June meeting about the DDE contamination.
