A tainted high

Lax state rules, inconsistent lab practices and inaccurate test results put pesticide-laced pot on dispensary shelves

Dab Society Dutch Treat, a potent cannabis extract sold to medical marijuana patients, sailed through state-mandated pesticide testing.

The results were printed on the label, backed by an official report. Workers at a Southeast Portland dispensary were happy to share the lab certificate. All you had to do was ask.

But, in fact, two laboratories commissioned by The Oregonian/OregonLive found pesticides in the same sample of Dutch Treat at levels above what the state allows.

It wasn’t an isolated case.

A combination of lax state rules, inconsistent lab practices and inaccurate test results has allowed pesticide-laced products to enter the medical marijuana market, The Oregonian/OregonLive has found.

Marijuana that fails a pesticide screen is not supposed to be sold to patients. But two other cannabis products in addition to Dutch Treat also tested above acceptable levels for pesticides.

The Oregonian/OregonLive shopped at Oregon dispensaries, bought cannabis that had passed pesticide tests and sent the samples to independent labs for further screening. Two labs performed the analysis: OG Analytical, a marijuana testing lab in Eugene, and Pacific Agricultural Laboratory, a Portland lab that specializes in detecting pesticides on foods and agricultural commodities. Both confirmed in blind testing the presence of pesticides that should have triggered red flags from previous labs.

Ten marijuana concentrates, popular extracts made from the plant’s leaves and flowers, were screened. Pesticides were found in nearly all of them. Many of the pesticides detected aren’t regulated by Oregon’s medical marijuana rules, which means products that contain these chemicals still can be sold.

A total of 14 chemicals were found in eight of the samples, including a half-dozen the federal government has classified as having possible or probable links to cancer.

Among them: a common household roach killer and another whose health risks prompted the federal government to eliminate it for most residential uses more than a decade ago. Though many growers say they follow organic practices, only one of the pesticides detected in the analysis is approved for use in organic agriculture.

Nearly 70,000 Oregonians rely on medical cannabis to treat everything from cancer to seizure disorders. Next year, thousands of consumers are expected to enter the market as Oregon transforms into a state where it is legal to buy marijuana for recreational use.

Oregon, like other states with legal marijuana, is only beginning to grapple with the implications of pesticide use on worker safety and public health.

Patients, meanwhile, can’t be certain that what they are buying has been analyzed for pesticides — even when documentation accompanies the products. Lab representatives said that just because a sample sold at a dispensary came with a lab certificate doesn’t mean that particular portion had ever been tested.

Earlier this year, The Oregonian/OregonLive commissioned tests that identified discrepancies between the advertised potency of edible products and the actual amount of THC they contained. This latest round of testing for pesticides offers further evidence of the challenges Oregon faces as it tries to regulate the emerging marijuana market.

Consider:

• Unlike Colorado and Washington, Oregon has not told marijuana producers what pesticides they can use. And the state’s testing rules don’t cover common pesticides used in marijuana cultivation, including chemicals linked to public health risks.

• Lab results may not be worth the paper they’re printed on. One lab said it didn’t test a tainted product sold as clean, though the product was marked with a batch number that matched its lab report. Another lab said it has spotted its logo on labels of products it never screened.

• Without state oversight, marijuana labs have wide latitude to operate as they wish. Some use high-precision analytical equipment. Some don’t. Some are staffed with experienced chemists. Others aren’t. And labs are free to choose which pesticides to include in their analyses. One lab owner recently stopped testing for a pesticide that kept showing up in cannabis products, saying bad lab results aren’t good for business.

• Oregon doesn’t track marijuana that fails a pesticide analysis. Once chemicals are detected, it’s up to the grower or dispensary to keep the product off the market. Lab owners say, however, that nothing stops unethical growers from retesting tainted cannabis. What’s more, the marijuana testing industry is a competitive one shaped in part by pressure on labs to pass products to earn repeat business.

• Labs may be conducting tests at the wrong time. State law allows growers to test flowers and leaves for pesticides, and then issue a lab report. But when marijuana is processed into highly concentrated oils, pesticide levels can spike. If the product isn’t retested, the amount of chemicals may go undetected.

The owners of Dab Society Extracts pulled Dutch Treat from dispensary shelves after learning of The Oregonian/OregonLive test results.

“This was supposed to be a cleaner product,” said Alleh Lindquist, 30, one of Dab Society’s owners. “It was supposed to be super pure.”

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What should Oregon do to ensure marijuana is as safe as possible for consumers?

Steve Wagner, who oversees the state medical marijuana dispensary program, said the Oregon Health Authority lacks the power to regulate medical marijuana producers or labs. Without it, he said, there is little the agency can do.

“Our current authority is not where we would want it to be in order to provide for the public health and public safety that we believe both retail and medical users should have,” he said.

Oregon last year began requiring testing of medical marijuana sold in dispensaries. But the testing rules are broad and leave out some of the most common pesticides used by growers. Complicating matters, federal law requires pesticides be used according to their labels. Those labels say precisely what crops and commodities can use the chemicals. Marijuana is not among them.

What’s more, health implications from vaping, smoking or dabbing tainted marijuana concentrates are unknown, leaving Oregon medical marijuana patients in the dark about what it means to consume pesticide-laced products. No known scientific studies have determined the effects of pesticides on cannabis consumption.

Jeremy Robbins consumes butane hash oil multiple times a day to treat spasms related to quadriplegia. He called the presence of contaminated products on the dispensary market a “nightmare.”

“I have been worried about all the butane,” said Robbins, 39, of Northwest Portland, “and now I need to worry about the pesticides, too.”

The state requires marijuana undergo testing for four broad categories of pesticides typically used in U.S. agriculture. Those categories don't include some of the pesticides growers commonly use. Above, equipment from a small Southeast Portland medical marijuana grow site. Photo by Beth Nakamura/staff

A dirty high

Rodger Voelker wasn’t surprised to see pesticides in the samples he tested for The Oregonian/OregonLive.

Pesticide Use on Cannabis

A study by Rodger Voelker and Mowgli Holmes.

Voelker, who holds a doctorate in molecular biology, is the scientific director of OG Analytical, one of the labs that analyzed our samples. He began testing marijuana last year and quickly suspected the pesticides used by growers weren’t covered by Oregon’s rules. Voelker, a lab scientist with a meticulous streak and high-precision analytical equipment, cast a wide net for dozens of pesticides, including many outside the rules.

His hunch proved right. From Oct. 15 to Dec. 31, more than half of the 154 concentrates, or oils, he tested were tainted.

Even more troubling, Voelker said he detected pesticides at levels far greater than what would be allowed on food.

And it wasn’t just pesticides that turned up. In multiple samples, Voelker said he found a chemical typically used to grow compact shrubs and improve the look of golf course turf. The compound isn’t supposed to be used on food.

Yet Voelker failed only a quarter of the 154 samples he tested last fall. The other 31 percent that contained pesticides fell outside Oregon’s medical marijuana testing rules. Because of that, Voelker had no choice but to give them a green light.

The Legislature two years ago passed a law mandating that medical marijuana sold in dispensaries undergo pesticide testing. The Oregon Health Authority turned to the state Department of Agriculture for recommendations on what to test. Agriculture officials suggested screening for four broad categories of chemicals typically used in U.S. agriculture. If labs detect pesticides from one of the four categories above 0.1 parts per million, the product can’t be sold.

Those categories cover lots of pesticides that kill bugs but not those that kill funguses, one of the main problems growers encounter. They also don’t include chemicals used to enhance the appearance of ornamental plants.

Dale Mitchell, manager of the Department of Agriculture’s pesticide program, acknowledged that the agency did not research marijuana production before making its recommendations on which pesticides to limit.

The upshot: Oregon has, in essence, given marijuana growers the go-ahead to use pesticides outside the rules. Chemical residues on medical marijuana that far exceed anything allowed on a food crop get a pass.

Take myclobutanil, the active ingredient in Eagle 20, a product used to kill powdery mildew, a problem for marijuana growers.

It’s one of the more common pesticides Voelker encounters. And it’s not covered by Oregon’s rules. Five concentrates analyzed over 78 days last year contained the chemical at levels ranging from 40 parts per million to 300 parts per million. To understand how extreme those concentrations are, consider the residue limits the federal government established for the chemical when used on food crops. Limits range from 0.02 parts per million on asparagus to 10 parts per million on grapes.

“Effectively, the state of Oregon is saying you can have whatever level you want,” Voelker said. “We don’t care.”

William Simpson, a longtime medical marijuana grower in West Linn, quit using Eagle 20, worried that it would pose a threat to consumers. He said he made the decision after researching the product on his own.

Simpson, a hot pepper aficionado, gets routine bulletins about pests and funguses from the state’s agriculture department. Those alerts are intended to help protect his small pepper crop. But the state is silent on pot.

Without guidance, growers, who supply an estimated 300 dispensaries statewide, rely on their experience, Internet forums and supply shops for advice on how to control mites and mildew.

Simpson said he’d welcome more information from the state about his cannabis crop. “I want to go to people and say, ‘Is this good or bad?’ ”

Noah Sternthal, who produces cannabis oil under the Portland Premium brand was shocked to learn his product tested positive for pesticides in two lab analyses commissioned by The Oregonian/OregonLive. Sternthal markets his product as organic and says he does not use pesticides. Photo by Beth Nakamura/staff

Indirect contamination

Spraying pesticides on plants is one way products end up contaminated. They also can be tainted from pesticides used nearby.

Noah Sternthal was shocked to see the results for his cannabis oil in The Oregonian/OregonLive’s analyses. Both labs we hired found two pesticides that should have kept his product off the market. One isn’t allowed on food crops. Another was phased out for most residential uses more than a decade ago.

Sternthal, who said he’s grown cannabis for years, markets his product as organic and was adamant that he does not treat his plants with pesticides.

“It’s horrifying,” said Sternthal, whose products are sold under the Portland Premium brand. “I have no idea how that happened.”

Sternthal pulled the hash oil off the market after reviewing our results. He is trying to determine what went wrong.

Pesticide tests mandated by state law can be performed before the flowers and leaves are turned into concentrates. That’s what happened in Sternthal’s case. He said Green Leaf Lab analyzed the marijuana before he processed it into hash oil. Once he had a finished product, he took it to another lab, Rose City Laboratory, where it was tested for potency.

Marijuana concentrates tend to be tainted at higher rates, Voelker has found. In Sternthal’s case, Voelker said it’s likely that contamination was so low on the plant that it wouldn’t have been picked up by a marijuana lab. But once the plant was processed, the pesticides became more pronounced. Producers such as Sternthal extract not just the THC and other cannabinoids from the plant, but the pesticides, too. And those pesticides tend to concentrate in the product.

Sternthal said that since reviewing The Oregonian/OregonLive’s analysis, he’s begun testing all of his finished products for residual pesticides.

Voelker said pesticides also can linger in equipment used to process plant material, contaminating the product as it’s made. That’s problematic for growers who don’t use pesticides but rely on extraction companies to turn their leaves and flowers into concentrates.

Contamination can occur in unexpected ways. Voelker said he’s talked with growers who hang fly strips in their grow rooms, unaware that the pesticide can become airborne and settle onto their crop. Other growers dried harvested marijuana in rooms where they’d previously set off flea bombs.

Aerosol pesticides or foggers commonly used to kill mites between harvests can also lead to indirect contamination, he said. Voelker and Alex Hoggan, owner of Chemhistory, a marijuana testing lab in Milwaukie, said a pesticide typically used in foggers contributes to frequent failed samples.

David Sheppard, a Eugene marijuana grower who makes concentrates and edibles, said he relied on foggers until the state began requiring lab testing of medical marijuana last year. When pesticides in the fogger showed up in his product, he quit using bug bombs.

Fourteen months later, trace amounts of the chemicals continue to show up.

Sheppard’s products last year also tested positive for bifenthrin after he processed someone else’s contaminated plants into a concentrate. He carefully cleaned his equipment, but the contamination lingered. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency classifies bifenthrin as a possible carcinogen.

“It is serious,” Sheppard said. “You really can’t fully get rid of it.”

Contamination of marijuana can occur in unexpected ways. Even growers who keep clean grow sites battle mites and mold. Here, a section of a small Southeast Portland lab where clones are started. Photo by Beth Nakamura/staff

Household roach killer found

Mad Farmaceuticals, an extract company, promotes its products on its website as “the purest medicine for the patients who need it most.”

But The Oregonian/OregonLive tests of Mad Farmaceuticals OG propane hash oil detected the active ingredient in Raid and other household ant and roach killers. The hash oil also tested positive for three pesticides not covered by state rules.

Company president Darrin Farrow declined requests for an interview, referring questions to lawyer Leland Berger.

Berger said the company used marijuana from other growers to produce the hash oil and relied on their word about pesticide use. Berger said the owners didn’t know how their product became tainted, but he speculated that pesticides used “for pest or mold control as a part of building maintenance” were the source.

Tell us what you think

What should Oregon do to ensure marijuana is as safe as possible for consumers?

When a reporter from The Oregonian/OregonLive bought the hash oil from Brooklyn Holding Company in Southeast Portland, it included a lab report generated by 3B Analytical, a Portland marijuana lab. The report — and the label on the package — say the product met Oregon pesticide standards.

Berger said Mad Farmaceuticals had the product tested by two labs before it went on the market, something the company routinely does. Both labs, Green Leaf Lab and 3B Analytical, confirmed it had met state standards, he said.

Green Leaf Lab’s owner, Rowshan Reordan, referred questions to attorney Paul Loney, her husband. Loney said Green Leaf tested a Mad Farmaceuticals sample in the fall of 2014. He questioned whether the sample the lab screened could have been the same one sold at a dispensary months later. He added that the lack of a state-mandated tracking system means patients cannot be assured that what they buy has been tested at all. He also said it’s up to growers to select the samples they bring in for testing.

“That sample may not have been representative of the batch,” he said. “Everybody in the industry knows that right now. It’s not a hidden secret or anything.”

3B Analytical referred questions about the discrepancy in test results to Brooks Foster, a Portland attorney. In a written statement, Foster said 3B Analytical stands by its analysis. He offered multiple explanations of why the labs hired by The Oregonian/OregonLive came up with different results. He said 3B Analytical may have tested a different — and untainted — part of the batch, or that the pesticide contamination may not have been spread evenly throughout the product. He also speculated that our analysis may have been wrong.

The company, owned by Meghan Brock, said its label and logo have been used on products that it had not even screened.

“What ends up on the shelf with our tracking number,” the company said, “is too often not a product we ever tested.”

Oregon’s dispensary rules require that products arrive at stores in sealed batches from the lab. Troy Moore, owner of Oregon’s Finest in the Pearl District, said he has always assumed lab results accompanying products are valid for everything in the batch.

Alarmed by the results of our pesticide analyses, Moore pulled seven concentrates off his shelves, including ones made with his own plants. He had Voelker test them.

Voelker’s analysis found all of them were contaminated. Four contained pesticides above levels the state deems acceptable and should not have been sold.

Moore was frustrated by the findings. He said he doesn’t use pesticides and neither do the growers whose products he sells. He figures he’s spent $100,000 on state-mandated pesticide and potency analyses in the past year. He said potency testing has proven unreliable, and now pesticide results are suspect.

“I honestly feel like the state is almost ripping us off,” said Moore, adding that state inspectors recently asked him to include pesticide results on product labels. “They are forcing us to do this and it really doesn’t mean anything.”

Of the 10 products The Oregonian/OregonLive purchased and had tested, no product was more contaminated than Dab Society Dutch Treat. In all, seven chemicals were detected in the product, including bifenthrin, the pesticide on the EPA’s list of possible carcinogens. Photo by Beth Nakamura/staff

Plants ‘soaked’ in pesticides

None of the marijuana concentrates tested by The Oregonian/OregonLive had as many problems as Dab Society Dutch Treat. It contained pesticides commonly used in the cannabis industry to deal with mites and mildew.

In all, seven chemicals were detected in the product, including bifenthrin, the pesticide on the EPA’s list of possible carcinogens. The labs detected between 0.5 and 0.8 parts per million of the pesticide, five to eight times the limit set by the state. Those findings should have prevented the product from being sold. Our analysis also found six other chemicals that aren’t covered by Oregon law.

A leading toxicologist, who reviewed The Oregonian/OregonLive’s analyses, said the high concentration of one chemical in particular suggested the cannabis plants used to make Dutch Treat had been “soaked” in that pesticide before harvest.

Lindquist, a company owner, said he was unsettled to hear so much pesticide may have been used during production.

“That sounds pretty bad,” he said.

Dab Society’s owners said they had stopped making Dutch Treat by the time we bought it in April. It was likely made with marijuana the company bought from growers in the Applegate Valley, a prime region for outdoor marijuana cultivation in southern Oregon. It was processed into oil, then brought to another processor who combined it with additional hash oil and further refined it.

Without clear guidelines for growers on what pesticides they can use, it is up to labs to flag tainted products, Lindquist said. Dab Society confirmed that the lab report obtained from the dispensary was for the product bought by The Oregonian/OregonLive.

It was tested in Tigard by MRX Labs. The lab report and product label list the same sample number and test date.

“We definitely rely on them to tell us if there is pesticide in the product,” Lindquist said.

Patsy Myers, MRX Labs’ owner, said her lab screens for bifenthrin. She disputed that the lab report we received from the dispensary was for the product we bought, insisting that her staff would have detected the pesticide.

“If it contained pesticides, we know we would have caught that,” she said. “We have zero doubt.”

Oregon doesn’t track lab testing, making it impossible to know how many samples fail to meet pesticide standards. Hoggan, owner of Chemhistory, suspects growers take tainted samples to other labs in an effort to obtain clean results.

“What is a guy going to do if he has a pound of BHO that is worth wholesale, $8,000?” Hoggan said. “He just paid $100 for a test and he got a fail. Well, he’s going to try this other lab and pass.”

Hoggan said he typically doesn’t see those customers again.

The Legislature is considering bills to regulate medical marijuana production and to require testing of all marijuana products. And with the rollout of a regulated marijuana industry a year away, the Oregon Liquor Control Commission, which will oversee the recreational industry, has begun laying groundwork for setting lab standards and regulating recreational cannabis producers, though those committees are just beginning to meet.

Until the state addresses pesticide use and contaminated product on the market, medical marijuana patients are on their own, Voelker said.

“Quite honestly,” he said, “the system is completely broken.”

The process of extracting THC and other cannabinoids from the marijuana plant also extracts and concentrates pesticides into the finished product. That means pesticides detected on flowers and leaves at levels acceptable under Oregon rules may end up much higher once the plant is processed into a concentrate. Above is butane hash oil, a popular product among medical marijuana consumers. Photo by Beth Nakamura/staff

Concentrated contamination

The concentrate making process increases THC — and pesticides, too

Rodger Voelker’s analysis of pesticides in marijuana revealed widespread contamination and that concentrates are particularly tainted.

Marijuana concentrates were five to 10 times more contaminated than flowers, depending on the pesticide. Voelker, who holds degrees in chemistry and molecular biology, is one of the owners of a marijuana testing lab in Eugene, OG Analytical.

Tell us what you think

What should Oregon do to ensure marijuana is as safe as possible for consumers?

Of the 154 concentrates Voelker tested between Oct. 15 and Dec. 31, more than half were contaminated. Compare that to the 389 samples of marijuana flowers he analyzed during the same period. Twenty-nine percent were tainted, and yet only 7 percent contained pesticides covered by Oregon’s rules.

The process of extracting THC and other cannabinoids from the marijuana plant also extracts and concentrates pesticides into the finished product. That means pesticides detected on flowers and leaves at levels acceptable under Oregon rules are likely to end up much higher once the plant is processed into a concentrate.

People typically consume these products using portable devices called vape pens or with specially rigged bongs and torches, a method called dabbing. Concentrates make up an estimated 15 to 30 percent of the medical marijuana market, Oregon dispensary owners say.

Though Oregon mandates pesticide testing, that analysis may be done before the flowers and leaves are turned into a concentrate. That means hash oil sold on the dispensary market may contain high levels of contamination.

“It’s basically Russian Roulette, especially in the concentrates,” said Alex Hoggan, owner of Chemhistory, a Milwaukie marijuana lab, who said he, too, has seen higher rates of contamination among concentrates compared with flowers. “I know that’s where the problem is.”