OHA Alert on Pesticide Tainted Medical Marijuana

Keith Mansur

Oregon Cannabis Connection

October 23, 2016 – On Thursday, October 20^th, Oregon Health Authority (OHA) released a notice to consumers that batches of two strains of medical marijuana flower were sold to the public which had tested positive for pesticide residue even though they had failed the new testing protocols. The flower was sold by New Leaf , a medical marijuana dispensary in McMinnville, and was sold under the strain names Dr. Jack, batch number G6J0051-02, and Marion Berry, batch number G6J0051-01. The Oregon Health Authority has refused to release the name of the grower, citing privacy laws under the Oregon Medical Marijuana Program (OMMP).

According to the alert, 130 consumers from the McMinnville area purchased the tainted bud, and the memo encouraged them to return or destroy the product. The OHA stated, “Anyone who visited the dispensary during this time frame should check the label of the product they purchased and immediately return any of the tainted product to the dispensary, or dispose of it in a safe and responsible manner.”

They also recommend that people concern about the effects of spinosad — the pesticide with which these batches were contaminated — call the Oregon Poison Center at 800-222-1222. “There is no level of spinosad that has been shown to be safe in cannabis that is smoked,” said Dr. David Farrer, Ph.D., a public health toxicologist with OHA, in the memo.

Particularly troublesome is the fact that the batches were transferred after failing the required testing. And, it’s due to the new protocols that this tainted batch was caught. Green Leaf Lab, the first cannabis testing lab to be accredited under the new program did the testing and reported the failed pesticide results to the state.

Under the regulations, batches that fail pesticide residue testing must report the failed batches to the state. Spinosad residue levels have an “action level” of .2 parts per million (ppm). The Dr. Jack batch tested at 42ppm and the Marion Berry tested at 22ppm.

From the memo:

“The tainted batches were transferred to the dispensary by a McMinnville grower that had the marijuana tested by an accredited and licensed cannabis testing laboratory. The affected strains came from just the one grower and were transferred only to New Leaf. Strains with similar names sold at other dispensaries are not believed to have been affected.

OHA is not naming the grower because that information is confidential under Oregon law.

OHA officials are investigating why the batches were transferred from the grower to the dispensary, and then sold by the dispensary to customers, as the products were transferred with failed test results.”

Marijuana that fails a test and subsequent re-test must be destroyed under the new rules. More information on testing can be found on the OHA website. More information on spinosad, contact NPIC at 800-858-7378 or visit its web page on the chemical.

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