Cannabis users experiencing headaches from their marijuana may need to take a closer look at their supply.
New research shows how some of the most popular brands in California dispensaries contain alarmingly high levels of pesticides.
They can irritate the lungs, eyes and throat and cause rashes, headaches, diarrhea and abdominal pain.
Worse yet, contaminants can include chemicals linked to cancer, liver failure, thyroid disease, and genetic and neurological harm to users and fetuses.
Some chemicals have been smuggled in from China, a sign of the growing involvement of Chinese gangs in the legal cultivation and smuggling of marijuana into the United States after legalization.
A sheriff’s deputy arrests a worker at an illegal marijuana grow in Phelan, California.
Officers collect large bags of weed after taking down an illegal grow in Mt. Shasta Vista, California
An LA Times and WeedWeek investigation surveyed some of the most popular brands of vaporizers and pre-rolled marijuana in the Golden State.
About 25 of 42 legal marijuana products purchased in stores and tested in private laboratories showed pesticide concentrations above state or federal safety levels.
Most of the pesticides found were at low concentrations that could harm people who used them regularly.
The full extent of the health threat may not be known for years, researchers warned.
Vaporizers were among the worst offenders.
Researchers found that five well-known brands had pesticide loads above federal thresholds for risk of harm from a single exposure.
Some products contained up to two dozen pesticides.
The alarming findings echo the results of other surveys over the past eight months.
Cannabis growers are understood to abuse pesticides to increase profits in a tight market.
This high-value crop needs protection from insect pests that thrive in greenhouses.
Meanwhile, the growing popularity of vaping has fueled demand for vape oils made from lower-quality marijuana, often grown illegally.
The potency of pesticides on some farms is so strong now that state investigators are urged to wear respirators and test for blood poisoning when they find them.
Investigators highlighted bags of illegal fumigants with Chinese labels found in a cannabis greenhouse in Siskiyou County, Northern California.
Tests revealed 10 pesticides in the unbranded product, two of which can kill if inhaled.
The haul included isoprocarb, a Chinese fumigant not approved for use in the United States.
Customers who purchase marijuana products at fancy dispensaries have no idea that their expensive product was grown using dangerous levels of pesticides.
The study focused on California, but it raises concerns among marijuana users across the country who may be inhaling similar chemicals.
Marijuana is fully legal (for adult recreational and medicinal use) in 29 states. It is completely illegal in four states.
The laws in the remaining states are mixed, meaning the drug may be permitted for medicinal use, permitted only in the form of CBD oil, decriminalized, or a combination of these.
According to Pew Research, half of American adults say they have used marijuana and nearly a quarter say they have used it in the past year.
In recent years there has been a notable uptick in the number of growths linked to Chinese citizens.
Some of them have recently appeared in states like Maine and Oklahoma, with looser rules and lax enforcement.
In February, fifty members of Congress wrote to the Department of Justice asking for more information about illegal marijuana cultivation linked to Chinese citizens.
The pesticide report is not the first scare for cannabis consumers.
Dozens of marijuana products, including buds and rolls, were recalled last month due to the discovery of a toxic mold linked to lung infections.
The California Department of Cannabis Control (DCC) reported that the products could be full of aspergillus, a fungus that grows on plants when they are not stored or dried properly.
Inhaling aspergillus can cause a wide range of health problems, including coughing up blood, asthma attacks, headaches, weight loss, and in extreme cases, death.
There were 13 products in total that were subject to mandatory recalls, including Northern Emerald’s Tyson Undisputed Cannabis Flower, a brand promoted by professional boxer Mike Tyson.