CASE AGAINST LPS: PESTICIDE LACED PRODUCTS
CASE AGAINST LPS: PESTICIDE LACED PRODUCTS
No pesticide testing done for medical marijuana, Health Canada says (FEB/7) https://beta.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/no-pesticide-testing-done-for-marijuana-health-canada-says/article33948779/ Health Canada, which is facing a growing controversy over tainted medical marijuana, cannot say with certainty how widespread the use of banned pesticides is within the industry. Instead, the regulator has been leaving it up to the growers to police themselves on the use of potentially harmful chemicals. In a background briefing with The Globe and Mail, a senior Health Canada official acknowledged that even though the government prohibits the use of potentially harmful chemicals such as myclobutanil, – which is known to emit hydrogen cyanide when heated –the department has not been testing cannabis growers to ensure the 38 federally licensed companies were, in fact, not using it. A few days after the Mettrum problem emerged, two more companies – OrganiGram and Aurora Cannabis – announced recalls due to myclobutanil. The chemical was discovered after Aurora tested a bulk shipment of cannabis it purchased from OrganiGram. "In response to these events, Health Canada … will begin conducting random testing of medical-cannabis products produced by licensed producers, to provide added assurance to Canadians that they are receiving safe, quality-controlled product," the letter states. However, the new measures do not make regular testing mandatory for the companies. Though licensed producers are required to test for mould, bacteria and heavy metals, the government official said testing for harmful pesticides is still something that companies "have the option" of doing. Asked how patients could have confidence the product was not exposed to banned chemicals, given the lack of scrutiny by the government, Health Canada said it believed the system works. Health Canada gave no clear answer in its briefing as to why it wouldn't make testing mandatory for the licensed producers. One reason given by the senior official was that he believed there is only about three labs in Canada that could perform such testing, and there would be a backlog. The senior off