Concerns regarding dangerous contaminants in med mj

[DoobieDuck]

TJO..might I correct myself somewhat. I use Med MJ in Tea..mostly because my immune system is compromised, your point well made and thank you for that. My above post edited and additional info added. DD

 

[theJointedOne]

no worries, i think lots of the noob growers these past couple years care less if their buds have spores, ive seen mulitple packs full of rotten or moldy budy looked nice until you broke it open, spider web style....ewwww, and they still sell it?!?

sorry to hear that, glad the tea helps. I like tea too!

 

[DoobieDuck]

This topic is also a good one for promoting and pointing out how valuable your caregiver, our local dispensaries and collectives are. The "home town" ones where you can develop a personal relationship with the owners or Med technicians in helping you with your specific ailment. Ones you can trust for your supply of good quality medicine because they do the testing and take the steps to insure that it is safe. If you don't know what you're getting ask them what tests are done and if they guarantee their product mold/contaminate free. DD

 

[theJointedOne]

I agree with you but in some cases i feel there is no testing necessary but thats rare. I.e. - friends and family who are trusted growers and are honest

sadly i forgot to mention another sad sad story i saw this season. Ok i dint see it but the dude admitted to a friend. These guys are big outdoor guys and they get bad Powdery mildew every year. What do they do? search for a better strain? maybe improve there grow conditions so pm doesn't thrive? no they let it get pm and when they harvest they take EVERY branch and hose it down with water so the pm looks gone, then they dry and get rid of it...

i sat there with my Jaw open b/c these guys are some growers i kinda looked up to in terms of their style and genetics but i would never ever ever do that.

edit- also ive gotten a few ounces from a certain club in chico afew times only to come home, breeak open smem nugs and find boytris inside, not saying there buds are all like that but seems they had a vendor who didnt check his stuff, or didnt care

 

[bugler]

Can MJ be irradiated without damaging the active chemicals? It's a fast, safe process. The units can be a little pricey though. The state body overseeing med mj could have a unit available for folks to run their product through, or a large collective could make one available to members.

Pretty sure radiation will kill mold and spores alike.

(I know a lot of mj people can be over-reactive and have very unscientific fears about things, so I'm sure some will fear the word irradiation, but it really is a perfectly safe way to render something sterile and safe for consumption with no radioactive effect on what was treated...)

 

[starwatcher]

I agree with some of what the doc has to say (unfortunally)

However I have to say mold should be the least of people's problems though. It can easily be seen on buds with a keen eye and then be discarded. Med clubs should be doing this.... Common sense to not buy shit bud..

On the other hand.... Pyrethrums, bug strips,sm90,floramite and all the other pesticides is what worries me. The stuff you can't see, the stuff commercial growers spray the shit out of there plants with then sell them under the name organic.... This is what scares me and is the MAIN reason I only smoke bud I GROW.

 

[theJointedOne]

somewhere i heard of irradiated buds, not sure where, i def woud pass that joint lol sorry

starwatcher yeah i had some so called organics from a dude in lkae county, every time i took a hit it felt like i was almost gonna gag, not cool or usual at all...def was the stuff he sprayed or applied,

 

[HUGE]

Can MJ be irradiated without damaging the active chemicals? It's a fast, safe process. The units can be a little pricey though. The state body overseeing med mj could have a unit available for folks to run their product through, or a large collective could make one available to members.

Pretty sure radiation will kill mold and spores alike.

(I know a lot of mj people can be over-reactive and have very unscientific fears about things, so I'm sure some will fear the word irradiation, but it really is a perfectly safe way to render something sterile and safe for consumption with no radioactive effect on what was treated...)

Dutch MMJ is irradiate.

 

[chappie]

Thank you all for your replies - very good stuff. I think its important for us as members of the medical community to talk about it, be aware of it, and be willing to discuss it openly with critics. It seems that we, as providers need to be especially careful in taking on patients with compromised immune systems and perhaps attempt to work in conjunction with their physicians.

In my state, since we have no dispensaries or co-ops, we (as growers) provide directly to the patients. I take exceptional care with my herb and feel I have an above-average handle on health concerns but I shudder to think what kind of "care" some patients are receiving when they choose their growers. We need to keep in mind that we, as growers, are not medical staff and can only humbly offer the best herb we can grow. I would prefer a patient and doctor work out ingestion protocol between themselves, although I am certainly willing to offer all the best information I have. It will certainly be interesting to see how this stuff pans out in the next few years...

 

[+Vibes]

i don't think this exactly relevant, because this is just the world we live in. and maybe i'm just naive..... if we're saying medical = the rigors of medicine then aren't we just going towards a pill with active, measurable, standardized ingredients (not just marinol, duh)?

we don't trust the plant or the grower until it has passed through some scientific process so why bother?

that said, isn't it obvious lots are in it for the money and could care less about patients (nobody in here though and the delivery system for said 'medication' is seriously flawed?!? shit i can't even sell hamburgers off my back porch without the FDA fucking my shit UP!

 

[miltonchitlin]

I'm a firm believer that patients deserve to have tested and verified medicine. Medicine should be tested for biologic, chemical and heavy metals contamination.

 

[chappie]

miltonchitlin -

Is there even a lab that can do this on a scale personal growers can afford? What is the cost? What kind of cost would be transferred to patients?

 

[DoobieDuck]

Chappie yes there are labs and many co-ops/dispensaries/collectives are using them right now in Ca. Milton I agree on testing, but should medical outlets do it, start testing on their own or wait for goverment mandates?

..... if we're saying medical = the rigors of medicine then aren't we just going towards a pill with active, measurable, standardized ingredients (not just marinol, duh)?
we don't trust the plant or the grower until it has passed through some scientific process so why bother?

Vibes getting back to my original point, the pharma companies can, and have, skewed the tests, screwed up the processing, contaminated the end product, just like anyone could do when growing or processing.. The point, in my first post was, as a legal patient here we have the ability to grow our own or to find someone we can trust. It's our choice still and that seems to be the most trust worthy to me.
Just because our goverment puts safe guards in place, medical= the rigors of medicin, it doesn't seem anymore, actually it's a fact, that those can't be trusted, read the link in my first post..

Our goverment has allowed people 18 years or older to self medicate for years with nicotine. Not getting involved in dosage, creating a pill etc. They never even asked for scientific proof, evidence it was providing some medical relief like cannabis actually does provide. With cigs if you wanted to get more in your system you just smoked more. The goverment was happier than shit, they just taxed the hell out of it. They claim now that they don't want what happened with cigs and cancer to happen again so they are safe guarding us..yet that product, tobbaco, is still legal, avaliable every where. I'm shaknig my head Brothers....
Thanks again for all your great input comrads..gotta go..I'm going to over think this..lol..DD

 

[theJointedOne]

I'm a firm believer that patients deserve to have tested and verified medicine. Medicine should be tested for biologic, chemical and heavy metals contamination.

i would be interested to see this list of contaminants

 

[hazy]

The AZ Department of Health Services has made a rule that dispensaries will have to submit samples of their assorted buds to them for testing.
I think for pesticides, mold and such.

 

[partly cloudy]

OK, i skipped ahead in this discussion but want to inject my opinion...... I have been growing on and off for well over 20 years and this is one area I get into some pretty heated conversations about especially since we are talking about medicines. I feel if you are producing medicine that you have an obligation to your patients to provide them with the best/untainted medicines that can be offered. mold included even if it is everywhere! There are certains mold spores (stachibouchus) that are deadly dangerous even to a healthy person, just look at the construction industry and how they deal with mold, and what has happened to people with this mold in their homes.... even healthy people. They spend tens of thousands of dollars to erradicate this when there is any signs of water entering a homeowners house, build containments, install air scrubbers, get air testing as well as surface testing, litterally hand clean evry horizontal surface.. ect. ect. the list of precautions goes on and on.

If there is anyone here that is in this to provide medicines................ do your research and take many precautions, a compromised immune system will make all this even worse for the patient.

As caregivers we need to be careful, and this is one area I feel that legalization in CA would have been good, regulations should be put forth for this reason. I have seen bigtime caregivers not giving a crap about what they are producing for medicine, and it is scary. not only that its tainted but these same caregivers are acting like big pharma and not "CARING" that they are hurting people. Or not caring enough to do some research, and adapting to what must be done to provide clean medicine to their patients.

The ones against Medical marijuana will always have this as their defense to keep it illegal if we dont make it a priority to provide clean medication every time. Especially if we dont care for our patients while being a caregiver. It all in your title..... live up to it!