You said: "All of the products on our shelves adhere to the highest testing standards in the state…read moreof Oregon, and are free of pesticides and mold".
There ARE standards for Oregon, however they permit sale of herb which contains both an acceptable level of both pesticides, and microbiological contaminants (including mold). If you think the growers supplying Oregon dispensaries don't use pesticides, and other harmful forms of pest control, then you are sadly mistaken. The growers who supply Oregon dispensaries are 99.9% commercial growers, some of them growing 100s of plants at once-- some even growing 1,000s or more (tier 2 outdoor growers can have 40,000 square ft. of canopy in Oregon, tier 2 indoor can have 10,000 square ft. of grow space, for example) When you grow in volume like that, you need some sort of pest control. There are many different things you can use for pest control, from toxic neem-tree oil, cinnamon oil, flea and tick spray, to carpet cleaner, organic hand soap, cayenne pepper to chemical pesticides going by many brands and names tailored to cannabis. Some growers even use liquid cyanide. Many growers spray these hazardous compounds onto plants in both vegetative and flowering stages. Chemical pesticides are popular and very common among commercial growers for good reason-- they work better. Organic or not, many things used for pest control are very unhealthy and/or hazardous to smoke, ingest, or apply to your skin. They certainty are not helpful to already sick people.
I copied and pasted the following, directly from Oregon.gov, regarding data on herb submitted for testing in Oregon (found under the category "Cannabis and Pesticides")...it proves that there is herb-- containing pesticides, that is being approved for sale in Oregon dispensaries:
"Recent laboratory results show high levels of the active ingredients, pyrethrins and/or piperonyl butoxide in some cannabis samples.
Both pyrethrins and piperonyl butoxide currently are on ODA's "Guide List for Pesticides and Cannabis."
ODA is investigating why some samples indicate levels of one or both of these pesticides, which far exceed the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) Action Levels, and yet others do not.
To retain the listing of these two pesticides on the Guidelist, ODA, OHA, and Oregon Liquor Control Commission (OLCC) need to learn more about what influences pesticide residue levels on cannabis. If you used pyrethrins and/or piperonyl butoxide, and your cannabis tested below OHA's Action level, please contact ODA at (503) 986-4553."
WHAT IS WORSE, is that some dispensaries are either knowingly selling cannabis products loaded up with illegal pesticides-- which are far more harmful and hazardous to one's health than the garden amendments I mentioned-- ORRR they simply aren't testing every batch. WATCH THIS VIDEO BY THE OREGONIAN, if you need more convincing: "https://youtu.be/iAK7QRu-ZDw"
I hope you won't try to tell me that Resin Ranchers is a small, private grower, because they are not! They consistently supply pounds of herb every month to multiple dispensaries in multiple cities-- something you can't do unless you are growing in great volume (ie; commercial). Other names are no different. It's safe to conclude that ANY grower who grows so much volume that they're able to supply multiple dispensaries in multiple cities in Oregon with cannabis-- by definition, they are commercial. I will say it again, it is impossible to grow that many plants perpetually without some sort of pest control.
The big questions are these: do these pesticides and pest control alternatives cause cancer? Do they cause brain damage? Impair development? Cause birth defects? Mental Illness? And a scarier question: how do we determine that? because it seems like we're the test subjects! How closely, and for how long have we researched these additives that we're smoking, ingesting, and rubbing on our skin?
I don't envy your job-- having to defend the greediest store in town...but if you're going to try it, please don't spread harmful misinformation!! Sick cancer patients deserve to know the truth about what is being done to their herbal medicine of choice, and how it might affect their health. We all deserve to know!!!
