Criticism that California is failing to fully address contamination in its weed crop has prompted a push for the governor and lawmakers to step in and remove that authority from the state agency in charge.
The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors last week asked the governor and Legislature to shift responsibility for pesticides in cannabis products from the Department of Cannabis Control to the state Department of Pesticide Regulation, which regulates pesticides on food crops. It requested that accreditation of cannabis testing labs be moved to the State Water Resources Control Board, which already certifies private labs to test food, water, soil and hazardous waste. And it asked that the state add 24 pesticides to the list of 66 chemicals for which cannabis products must now be screened prior to sale.
The resolution cited an investigation by The Times that found widespread contamination in California cannabis products, particularly vapes. Chemicals inhaled through smoking travel from the lungs into the blood and to the brain and other internal organs.
"I can't think of a much worse way to consume pesticides than to smoke them," Santa Cruz County Supervisor Manu Koenig said in urging passage of the resolution. Its co-sponsor was Supervisor Justin Cummings, who also chairs the California Coastal Commission.
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