Justin Singer makes edible cannabis products in Colorado under the names Ripple and Ript, and over the years, he has become increasingly concerned about the state’s lack of enforcement of the industry and what that means for the safety of the marijuana supply.
A breaking point came when he released a much cheaper product to the market, and increased sales by five times, changes he expected would certainly trigger an inspection from the state Marijuana Enforcement Division.
“They never showed up,” said Singer.
What kind of guy wants an inspection from the state?
“The kind of guy who wants an honest playing field,” said Singer. “Professional sports would not be fun if there were no referees and one team was allowed to cheat, while one team tried to follow the rules. It would be very not fun to watch, to participate in.”
So he had people buy 15 different marijuana products from dispensary shelves and tested them at a lab. The testing data, which he shared with CPR News, shows four products would have failed state limits for yeasts and mold, one by more than six times the state limit.
And Singer looked for things Colorado doesn’t require testing for, like coliform bacteria, which signals unsanitary conditions in the grow or in storage. Four of the 15 products had high levels of coliform. Chemical components of pesticides were found in four of the products.
“I consider Colorado weed today to be on par with New York street weed in 2008. In fact, I think the cartels probably cared more about their consumers than a lot of people here,” said Singer. “I’ve got the data to back it.”
State authorities and growers push back
There’s some form of legal marijuana permitted in 40 states now, but it remains federally illegal. The Biden Administration started a process to reschedule marijuana, to a lower-threat drug category, but in the meantime, federal agencies, like the Food and Drug Administration, don’t regulate the growing or testing of cannabis.
So 40 states have 40 different systems. In Massachusetts and Alabama, for instance, state marijuana authorities require testing for coliform. Colorado does not. Even if states test for the same microbes, they often have different limits. Colorado’s standard for total yeasts and molds is 10 times lower than Michigan’s limits for recreational cannabis flowers.
Since 2014, consumers have purchased $16.8 billion in cannabis products in Colorado, and there have been no widespread reports of people getting sick or dropping dead. But some in the industry and health and safety experts say the long-term ramifications of smoking contaminated weed are not known, and they are urging the state to do more to protect consumers.
Read more at CPR