In HBO’s series The Last of Us, a fungus triggers the end of the world. In real life, it’s testing for a fungus that has Oregon business owners fearing doomsday.
On March 1, the Oregon Health Authority implemented new testing rules for cannabis. One of those new tests looks for a mold called aspergillus, a ubiquitous fungus that people breathe in every day and that accumulates more heavily on aging vegetation, like compost piles.
And preliminary results from labs testing for aspergillus and other microbiological contaminants are sending cannabis farmers into a panic. Failure rates provided to WW by the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission this week show that infused pre-rolls had failed 22% of the time since March 1. Flower failed at a 6% rate.
More than 70 farmers joined a Zoom call on April 14 to discuss the most recent test results. It was the third week in a row they’d done so. Hosted by the Cannabis Industry Association, farmers from around the state told tales of failed tests that could paralyze their businesses in a day.
Read more at wweek.com