Some labels say 'deadly', 'toxic', or 'do not inhale,' but still the State of Alaska does not ban the use of any pesticides sprayed on marijuana crops.

It's an issue other states have grappled with, and now some say Alaska may not be doing enough to keep consumers safe.

The EPA has not authorized the use of any pesticides on marijuana plants, causing concern about potential health risks connected to Alaska's newest cash crop.

Under current Alaska regulations, samples of each marijuana harvest must pass through the scrutiny of a testing facility before approved for retail sale. These testing facilities are required to identify THC potency, harmful microbials such as E. coli and salmonella, residual solvents, poisons or toxins, harmful chemicals, dangerous molds, mildew or filth and pesticides.

CannTest is currently the only operating testing facility in the state. Although the business received a license to begin processing marijuana products, owner Mark Malagodi said CannTest doesn't have the necessary equipment to test for pesticides.

“We're not testing for pesticides yet,” said Malagodi. “We do plan to move into testing of pesticides. That's extremely complicated. There's a lot that goes into testing for pesticides, both in the equipment that's needs and the personnel that's needed.”

A second testing facility is expected to open in Alaska by the end of the year. AK Green Labs also said it doesn’t have the necessary equipment to discover if pesticides have been used by a marijuana cultivator.

As regulations are currently written, there isn’t a need for testing facilities to monitor pesticide use. Unlike the legalized states of Colorado, Washington and Oregon, Alaska has no regulations banning specific pesticides, insecticides or herbicides from being sprayed on cannabis crops.

The Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation has submitted a list of pesticides it suggests may be used

but also adds, "health risks of using these products on marijuana crops are unknown."

“The state doesn't have any prohibited pesticides in its rules in article six of the regulations, but it does require that if pesticides are used, they are reported on the label,” said Marijuana Control Board director Cynthia Franklin. “In other words, the idea is to be transparent, and the consumer and the retail store buying from a cultivator knows what they're getting.”

Without the ability to find pesticide residue on marijuana, the only enforceable regulatory structure in place is for cultivators to self-report any chemicals on their crops.

Some say, that might not be enough to prevent cannabis contamination

WHAT IS COLORADO DOING ABOUT PESTICIDES?

In Colorado, marijuana growers are strictly monitored for the pesticides they use.

The Colorado Department of Agriculture has laid out

and which are banned.

Colorado governor John Hickenlooper even

on Nov. 12, 2015, “directing state agencies to address threats to public safety posed by marijuana contaminated by pesticide.”

Since the executive action was taken, state workers have

found to be using chemicals on pot deemed illegal by the state.

WHERE IS THE ALASKA DIVISION OF AGRICULTURE?

Director of the Alaska Division of Agriculture Arthur Keyes said his agency knows a lot about quality control of crops. It frequently works with Alaska farmers and understands the pressure on some to use fungicides and insecticides to prevent the loss of a what could be thousands of dollars worth of income.

“When you get a pest and when those pressures come onto this crop, you have a huge financial incentive to find a treatment that can handle and control your pest,” said Keyes.

Keyes said that pressure could prove troublesome for recreational cannabis smokers, who inhale the plant without the option of cleaning the product beforehand.

“If there's been a chemical applied to that crop and you smoke it. You are smoking that chemical.” Keyes said.

According to Keyes, over the past two years the expertise of agronomists and biologists with the state’s agriculture division was not consulted by the Marijuana Control Board.

State regulators said, the rule-making has strictly been in the hands of the Department of Commerce because that’s how the ballot measure was written.

“That was the voter's choice,” said Franklin. “The voters didn't mention the Division of Agriculture, and the problem with writing regulations based on an eight page voter initiative is if the voters forgot to put it in there, in the first two years there's absolutely no room for regulation writers to come in and make some something up that isn't in the ballot measure.”

Franklin said it would take an act of the state legislature to include the Division of Agriculture as an agency overseeing the state’s burgeoning marijuana industry, much like the regulatory structure seen in Colorado.

“I think from a public health standpoint, it would be irresponsible for the Division of Agriculture not to bring the capacity that we have,” said Keyes. “We have the technical capacity to ensure public safety in this new industry.”

Officials said there are no plans to ban specific pesticides on Alaska-grown marijuana plants, and no testing facility has the ability to detect if the chemicals are present on cannabis before heading into stores.

It's effectively up to the cultivators to keep retail marijuana pesticide-free.