A Denver district court judge ruled against a cannabis cultivator's request to force Colorado to immediately overhaul the state's cannabis testing rules and seemed ready to rule for a complete dismissal of the case, after a full day in court Wednesday arguing over whether the state is living up to its obligation to protect marijuana consumers.
The decision effectively keeps state cannabis regulators from being compelled — for now — to crack down on the alleged illegal use of hemp-derived THC distillate in the state's legal marijuana supply chain.
The lawsuit raises concerns about the legitimacy of Colorado's legal cannabis market, once seen as an industry gold-standard. Depending on how pervasive the use of the synthetic, hemp-derived THC products, cannabis consumers could be at risk of exposure to the highly-toxic chemicals used in the banned, but untested, THC conversion process, industry insiders earlier said. District Court Judge Jill Dorancy's ruling came despite testimony from witnesses that lent support, at least in part, to the allegations made by the plaintiff in the case, Mammoth Farms, a Saguache-based cannabis cultivator.
Witnesses described evidence that cheap, low-THC hemp has been chemically converted, through the use of methylene chloride, into a high-THC distillate that has found its way into edibles and vaporizer cartridges in the state's legal cannabis market.
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