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The Hemp Center Recalls Medical Marijuana for Pesticides

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Medical Marijuana

The Hemp Center Recalls Medical Marijuana for Pesticides

As The Hemp Center recalls medical marijuana for pesticides, patients in Colorado are being encouraged to return contaminated product to the store where they bought it.

A Colorado weed company recalled and destroyed a crop of cannabis after it was found to contain illegal chemicals. As The Hemp Center recalls medical marijuana for pesticides, customers who may have purchased tainted products are also encouraged to return it to the place where they bought it.

Destroying Contaminated Weed

The Hemp Center Recalls Medical Marijuana for Pesticides

Kirke LLC/Metro Denver Telluride Health Center LLC, better known as The Hemp Center, has issued a recall on a batch of cannabis products. The recall came after labs found a number of illegal pesticides.

Under Colorado’s laws, it’s illegal to sell weed that has more than 0.005 parts per million of certain banned chemicals. According to local sources, a harvest of cannabis grown by The Hemp Center had around 650 times more than the allowable limit of certain banned chemicals.

In particular, the weed contained the pesticides Avermectin, Bifenazate, Imidacloprid, and Myclobutanil. All of them are outlawed in Colorado.

Colorado requires all growers to get their products tested. After testing positive for the banned pesticides, The Hemp Center issued a voluntary recall.

In fact, the company went further than just recalling the contaminated weed. Company owner Melissa Van Diest decided to destroy the entire harvest rather than wait for further testing.

“The safety of my patients is everything,” she said. “Hence, why I decided to get rid of everything.”

Van Diest said she had no idea the pesticides were being used. In fact, she ended up firing the employees who used the chemicals.

“I got rid of some of the employees who did this,” she said. “They’re gone. I am pissed, to say the least.”

Final Hit: The Hemp Center Recalls Medical Marijuana for Pesticides

The Hemp Center Recalls Medical Marijuana for Pesticides

This certainly isn’t the first time a legal weed company in Colorado has had to recall contaminated products. As The Hemp Center recalls medical marijuana for pesticides, it’s a reminder of some of the challenges facing the legal cannabis industry.

In particular, the use of pesticides and other potentially harmful chemicals remains a hot topic. Reports suggest that there might be a shockingly high percentage of contaminated weed being sold on the legal market.

In fact, earlier this year The Association of Commercial Cannabis Laboratories (ACCL) estimated that as much as half of all the weed tested in the U.S. contains pesticides.

At this point, it’s not entirely clear how these types of chemicals may affect consumers. But many are worried that they could be harmful.

“The possible health impact of consuming marijuana products with unapproved pesticide residues is unknown,” The Hemp Center’s recall said. “Short- and long-term health impacts may exist depending on the specific product, duration, frequency, level of exposure and route of exposure.”

There is even greater uncertainty about which chemicals are used when it comes to cannabis on the black market. Researchers have learned that many illegal growers regularly use chemicals that could be harmful. In fact, some of those chemicals are contributing to ecological decline in parts of California.

As the legal market continues to grow, it seems likely that screening for and eliminating harmful chemicals will become an increasingly important priority.

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