As contraband Chinese pesticides contaminate marijuana farms across California , state officials have not issued warnings that the polluted drug could pose a fatal threat to the public.
Chinese-labeled pesticides have been flagged on cannabis farms in at least six California counties, according to a Los Angeles Times investigation. After California agencies raided illegal cannabis-growing warehouses in Oakland last September, investigators discovered packets of profenofos and fenpropathrin, toxic pesticides that are fatal if inhaled. Earlier last year, state officials found the same poisonous substances during a raid on 25 illegal farms in Siskiyou County.
A significant unknown left up to speculation during California’s investigation is the extent to which the Chinese contraband chemicals have made their way into licensed cannabis products. While the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department has expressed concern for Californian cannabis users, California has not mandated that cannabis products sold to the public be tested for the harmful chemicals, and officials have not issued a general warning to the public about the possible exposure marijuana products have had to the harmful contaminants.
A spokesperson for Rep. Doug LaMalfa’s (R-CA) office told the Washington Examiner that the congressman’s concerns about the problem have been ignored by the Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Pesticide Regulation, and wildlife agencies. LaMalfa’s chief of staff, Mark Spannagel, said that in Siskiyou County, cartels have been operating cannabis farms that are full of Chinese fertilizers and pesticides not permitted in the United States.
“They are illegal but, because of the state rules, considered gray legally,” Spannagel told the Washington Examiner.
LaMalfa led efforts to bulldoze several similar Chinese cannabis farms in Siskiyou County a few years ago. Spannagel said California has avoided the matter because it would rather send regulators after legitimate farmers than target the cartels.
Department of Cannabis Control’s testing list for products sold in licensed cannabis stores does not include 19 of the pesticides officials found during the Oakland raid. It has not added the rest of the chemicals to its testing list, even after police reports and state records show the agency has encountered the pesticides on marijuana entering the market. State officials also failed to destroy the marijuana found during the Oakland operation after seeing the illegal pesticides in use.
The known risks of illegal Chinese chemicals, including profenofos and fenpropathrin contaminants, even while handled with protective gear, have been well documented. During the Siskiyou County sting operation, three officers had to receive medical treatments due to exposure to toxic contaminants. Officers at the Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office regularly have nosebleeds as they investigate the drug crisis despite taking protective measures.
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Additionally, protective measures both Californian law enforcement and state regulators have undertaken during investigations indicate the pesticides present at farms are highly toxic. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife is asking agents to undergo blood poisoning checks. Siskiyou County requires cannabis enforcement to undergo periodic blood poisoning testing. The state Department of Pesticide Regulation, the California National Guard, and the state Environmental Protection Agency have all urged law enforcement to exercise caution throughout the investigation.
The California National Guard lab and a Humboldt County ecology company reported that many of the cannabis packages from the Siskiyou County investigations identified 21 hazardous chemicals. The Integral Ecology Research Center warned each package carried a minimum of one chemical that is fatal if inhaled. Law enforcement officers should exercise “extreme caution during all operations,” the report noted.
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