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Marijuana industry brought to a standstill by new pesticide testing regulations

R

Robrites

Once packed with marijuana concentrates and extracts, the Human Collective's shelves are nearly empty.
Some pot leaf-patterned socks and glass pipes sit scattered among what's left. A static screen with just 13 flower options has replaced a digital "bud list" that used to scroll through the shop's options for people waiting in line. The lines are gone, too. Only one or two budtenders work at a time - cut in half from before.
Within months of Oregon's full recreational marijuana market coming online, the industry has come to a standstill with low supplies and big price jumps for consumers.
Don Morse, owner of the Human Collective in Southeast Portland, and other retailers, growers and processors blame Oregon's strict pesticide rules for the problem.
The regulations - the first mandatory pre-emptive testing in the country for marijuana - went into effect Oct. 1. But the state has so far licensed only a handful of laboratories to do the tests on thousands of products, including flowers, edibles, concentrates, oils and extracts.
And the tests are expensive - in some cases more than six times what companies used to pay, they report. Then they must wait weeks to get their products back and find out if they passed or failed.
Morse has laid off five budtenders since last month. He's down to about 10 percent of the concentrate inventory he had before October. He can't find anyone to sell him enough marijuana to fully restock.
That's happening in most of the more than 400 marijuana dispensaries around the state.
For Morse, the gridlock is ironic because he pushed for the rules. He helped convince growers and processors that reasonable pesticide limits and testing regulations would be better for them and consumers. But now the fledgling businesses are in jeopardy, he said.
"We don't want to come off like it's boohoo and we're only in it for ourselves," Morse said. "The people of the state said they wanted this both medically and recreationally. They left it to the state to set the rules and the state has set the rules to the point where it's no longer available to them. It's this roundabout way of making cannabis illegal again."
Megan Hatfield bought a vape pen cartridge of Sour Diesel for $45 at Morse's store. It's usually around $30 there, but she still considered it a bargain. She tried two other pot stores earlier in the week, finding only two other options, both at $80 for a gram.
"Honestly, I have been to a couple of places that didn't have a selection nearly as big as this," Hatfield said.
The Governor's Office is expected this week to announce some temporary fixes to address the testing backlog, while the Oregon Health Authority has borrowed inspectors from other divisions to help license labs.
The slowdown is the price of safety, said Jonathan Modie, a spokesman for the health authority.
"Our goal is to protect public health," he said, "by making sure that all marijuana products are tested for pesticides and other compounds by an accredited lab and that marijuana products that fail pesticide testing don't reach consumers."
More Oregonlive
 

Weird

3rd-Eye Jedi
Veteran
lol fuck people who use pesticides

lol fuck people who thought legal wasn't going to fuck everyone in the ass but those who don't care about the plant, and don't need it, they just want greenbacks

apparently my filtering system isn't engaging lately my apologies in advance
 

dank.frank

ef.yu.se.ka.e.em
ICMag Donor
Veteran
Welcome to "legalization" where the very government who used to lock us in a metal box is in control of the very thing they locked us in that box for.

How anyone didn't see the ineffective nature of the bureaucratic system mucking cannabis up just hasn't been paying attention to life. These sorts of things are exactly why I feel so adamantly opposed to half-measure legislation that serve only one purpose: To pacify the masses and regain control.

I hate to see this but I can't help but hear the echoes of "I told you so" bouncing in the heads of everyone who didn't go hug their representative for granting them rights which already exist and belong to the people that were willing to stand up for them. By this, so it isn't misunderstood, I mean the black market growers who have kept cannabis alive and thriving in the face of prohibition in all it's forms. Even this quasi legalization version we are currently seeing spread.



dank.Frank
 
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aridbud

automeister
ICMag Donor
Veteran
"Our goal is to protect public health," he said, "by making sure that all marijuana products are tested for pesticides and other compounds by an accredited lab and that marijuana products that fail pesticide testing don't reach consumers."

I wish Colorado would adhere to those principles. When you buy buds in shops, most have a label of what additives and pesticides were used....SCARY!
 

Betterhaff

Active member
Veteran
Every time I read something about this topic, all that comes to mind is produce in grocery stores. Another one is the ban on chemicals for growing, some of which are natural products (in Washington State I think).

Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for public safety and clean growing but as said in the article if you’re going to set up regulations than you better fast pace the effort to get the means available. And be realistic about what the controls are and don’t go overboard.
 

Weird

3rd-Eye Jedi
Veteran
stiff regulations mean greater price and enforcement

yeah baby more of the same except uncle sam gets a piece of both pies
 

dank.frank

ef.yu.se.ka.e.em
ICMag Donor
Veteran
Where is the testing facility that limits what other agricultural commodities see store shelves?

Do we send every tomato, every cob of corn, every apple, etc to the testing facility to make sure they are safe to eat? NOPE.

So why are they doing this with cannabis?

Personally, my meds would pass with flying colors and be on shelves. Why? Because, I, in the pursuit of the best medicine, not the biggest and quickest pay day, don't use any pesticides. Go figure.

Government doing what it does best. Protecting people from themselves.



dank.Frank
 
Colorado definitely needs to be more strict about this. These companies with quarter million watt grows can afford to shut down and get it right but they don't. I wouldn't touch 90% of the commercial product here its pretty sad. Hb1284 really started a nosedive in quality that hasn't recovered.

It sounds like half of the problem in oregon is slow testing and labs taking advantage of the demand.
 

oneofus

Member
Government doing what it does best. Protecting people from themselves.

^^...isn't it nice to have a Big Brother watching out for us...?

BTW, where are all the pro- (fake) legalization shills now?

I know where they went.

Some went to the Ministry of Love.

The rest went to the Ministry of Truth.

War is Peace.

Love is Hate.
 

Dirt Life

Well-known member
Veteran
Jesus, $80 a gram?!?! WTF, black market couldnt even charge that amount... And how many growers use terrible pesticides in Or? Nothing on the shelves? I basically know nothing about living/growing in a legal state, but all of that just sounds redic to me...
 

MJPassion

Observer
ICMag Donor
Veteran
HAHAHA!!!!
The more things change,
The more they stay the same...

Fuckin legalization shills are getting exactly what they asked for & fucking the rest of us out of what we've worked so hard for over the last 6 decades.

Glad I grow my own & so are a few of my friends.

Gubbment can't do shit right!
Well, except for oppress the people they govern...

Hahaha.... I've been singing this tune for 12+ years now. Stupid shills!
 

Sluicebox

Member
Hopefully you all see the writing on the wall by now. Monsanto/Bayer will take it over and provide in house testing. Enjoy your frankenweed. Pretty sure you won't be able to grow your 4 in Oregon once that happens. Can't you see the war on the Med growers? Did you really think it would end there?
 

dank.frank

ef.yu.se.ka.e.em
ICMag Donor
Veteran
Here peasants - take your four plants and be done with this matter! Now kiss my ring!

WHAT? I don't hear you!!!

Thank you, your majesty.

It will be regulated to the point that only those that have an extra million sitting in the bank will be able to build a facility to code. It's that simple. It's like that in EVERY industry that is regulated by the government. ALWAYS in the name of consumer safety.

The pharmaceutical industry has nearly 12,000 regulations it must abide by.

Hope your ready for the long dick of the law. Only now, it doesn't come with a badge and a gun but with a clipboard and red tape.

Good luck, Oregon. What this SHOULD tell those of you are are hip on investments, is to open up a testing facility that meets or exceeds the state standards. Then you become a licensing agency. OMRI ring any bells? They aren't special. They only certify that someone is following NOP. The difference? Their marketing created an awareness and authority for their seal of approval.

OCCA APPROVED. Oregon Cannabis Certification Authority.

You're welcome. :joint:



dank.Frank
 

Wendull C.

Active member
Veteran
The foxes are guarding the hen houses, the sad part is the hens voted them in and helped build their own coop.
 

stoned40yrs

Ripped since 1965
Veteran
Cryin' won't help you, prayin' won't do you no good
Now, cryin' won't help you, prayin' won't do you no good
When the levee breaks, mama, you got to move

led zep
 

bombadil.360

Andinismo Hierbatero
Veteran
Can't believe some of you... so you want to smoke pesticides and fungicides? Sounds like it.

These forums are done with this kind of attitudes.

Crying in the name of a bunch of crap growers growing in crap environments, who can only reach harvest day by spraying the shit out of their shit plants.

Yeah, go icmag LOL
 
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