{"id":698,"date":"2012-09-13T07:25:21","date_gmt":"2012-09-13T07:25:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.marijuana.net\/?p=19917"},"modified":"2012-09-13T07:25:21","modified_gmt":"2012-09-13T07:25:21","slug":"colorado-study-shows-need-for-regulation-and-marijuana-testing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/colorado-study-shows-need-for-regulation-and-marijuana-testing\/","title":{"rendered":"Colorado Study Shows Need For Regulation and Marijuana Testing"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"wp_fb_like_button\" style=\"margin:5px 0 5px 5px;float:right;height:100px;\"><script src=\"http:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/all.js#xfbml=1\"><\/script><fb:like href=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/colorado-study-shows-need-for-regulation-and-marijuana-testing\/\" send=\"true\" layout=\"standard\" width=\"450\" show_faces=\"false\" font=\"arial\" action=\"like\" colorscheme=\"light\"><\/fb:like><\/div><p><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" src=\"http:\/\/www.marijuana.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/marijuana-mold-spores.jpg\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"marijuana mold spores\" title=\"marijuana mold spores\" \/><\/p>\n<p><a rel=\"attachment wp-att-19921\" href=\"http:\/\/www.marijuana.net\/news-and-articles\/colorado-study-shows-need-for-regulation-and-marijuana-laboratories\/attachment\/marijuana-mold-spores\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-19921\" title=\"marijuana mold spores\" src=\"http:\/\/www.marijuana.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/marijuana-mold-spores-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" \/><\/a>As the election season continues we are pretty much ensured that the political conversation will remain within the narrow scope of only a handful of issues being discussed until January.\u00a0 While healthcare will be part of the next two months, it will only likely find its way in the campaign through the lens of Obamacare vs. Romneycare.<\/p>\n<p>For many patients who only find relief with marijuana, this will be yet another election where their concerns will not be addressed.\u00a0 Ignoring and tolerating medical marijuana to some extent is no longer going to be acceptable.\u00a0 Medication needs to be safe and with a far less rate of addiction and side effects in comparison to opiates and other medication, cannabis already satisfies much of the criteria for useful medicine.\u00a0 However, with it\u2019s legal status constantly in limbo, cannabis has suffered from a lack of regulation and required testing as many elected officials hope that <a href=\"http:\/\/www.tokeofthetown.com\/2012\/05\/poll_shows_74_of_americans_support_medical_marijua.php\" target=\"_blank\">75% of the country <\/a>soon changes its mind and stops supporting medical marijuana.\u00a0 That seems highly unlikely and our elected officials have chosen to ignore the safety of Americans in favor of outdated talking points and rhetoric.\u00a0 Simply put, marijuana is here to stay, and providing safe medicine must be a concern.<\/p>\n<p>Shedding more light on the problem is a recent study conducted in Colorado.\u00a0 Dr. John Martyny of the National Jewish Health studied the findings from 30 grow operations in the Larimer and Denver areas.\u00a0 The research indicated that certain grows had mold levels about 100 times higher than what is considered safe.\u00a0 In some growing operations, the mold levels were too high to for their instruments to properly measure.\u00a0 Dr. Martyny said \u201cThese are extremely high levels that we would consider dangerous.&#8221;\u00a0 Fortunately, none of the growing operations studied were legal, giving at least some hope that Colorado medical marijuana patients are not breathing in high levels of mold.<\/p>\n<p>However, there is evidence that even legal growers are not taking the proper precautions in preventing high levels of mold.\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/thewercshop.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">The Werc Shop<\/a> also finds similar problems when conducting laboratory analysis, but unlike Dr. Martyny they <strong><em>DO <\/em><\/strong>test cannabis from legal dispensaries.\u00a0 In a recent conversation with marijuana.net, Dr. Jeffrey C. Raber of the Los Angeles area lab said \u201cWe have had numerous secret shoppers find instances of mold and bacteria present at unacceptable, sometimes alarmingly high levels.\u201d\u00a0 The Werc Shop is one of the most well regarded testing laboratories and was responsible for much of the screening for the 2012 High Times Los Angeles Cannabis Cup.<\/p>\n<p>Research shows that we may only be hitting the tip of the iceberg in regards to just how much potential medical marijuana holds.\u00a0 However, as with any consumable product, improper testing and screening invites devastating side effects.\u00a0 The high levels of mold found by both Dr. Martyny and Dr. Raber only highlight the need for regulation and testing.\u00a0 The products created by large Pharmaceutical companies have to abide by FDA standards and a lack of regulation would not be accepted even for over the counter medicines.\u00a0 As the national campaigns ignores this problem, it is up to patients and activists to demand for regulation, testing, and safety.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" src=\"http:\/\/www.marijuana.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/marijuana-mold-spores.jpg\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"marijuana mold spores\" title=\"marijuana mold spores\" \/><\/p>\n<p><a rel=\"attachment wp-att-19921\" href=\"http:\/\/www.marijuana.net\/news-and-articles\/colorado-study-shows-need-for-regulation-and-marijuana-laboratories\/attachment\/marijuana-mold-spores\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-19921\" title=\"marijuana mold spores\" src=\"http:\/\/www.marijuana.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/marijuana-mold-spores-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" \/><\/a>As the election season continues we are pretty much ensured that the political conversation will remain within the narrow scope of only a handful of issues being discussed until January.\u00a0 While healthcare will be part of the next two months, it will only likely find its way in the campaign through the lens of Obamacare vs. Romneycare.<\/p>\n<p>For many patients who only find relief with marijuana, this will be yet another election where their concerns will not be addressed.\u00a0 Ignoring and tolerating medical marijuana to some extent is no longer going to be acceptable.\u00a0 Medication needs to be safe and with a far less rate of addiction and side effects in comparison to opiates and other medication, cannabis already satisfies much of the criteria for useful medicine.\u00a0 However, with it\u2019s legal status constantly in limbo, cannabis has suffered from a lack of regulation and required testing as many elected officials hope that <a href=\"http:\/\/www.tokeofthetown.com\/2012\/05\/poll_shows_74_of_americans_support_medical_marijua.php\" target=\"_blank\">75% of the country <\/a>soon changes its mind and stops supporting medical marijuana.\u00a0 That seems highly unlikely and our elected officials have chosen to ignore the safety of Americans in favor of outdated talking points and rhetoric.\u00a0 Simply put, marijuana is here to stay, and providing safe medicine must be a concern.<\/p>\n<p>Shedding more light on the problem is a recent study conducted in Colorado.\u00a0 Dr. John Martyny of the National Jewish Health studied the findings from 30 grow operations in the Larimer and Denver areas.\u00a0 The research indicated that certain grows had mold levels about 100 times higher than what is considered safe.\u00a0 In some growing operations, the mold levels were too high to for their instruments to properly measure.\u00a0 Dr. Martyny said \u201cThese are extremely high levels that we would consider dangerous.&#8221;\u00a0 Fortunately, none of the growing operations studied were legal, giving at least some hope that Colorado medical marijuana patients are not breathing in high levels of mold.<\/p>\n<p>However, there is evidence that even legal growers are not taking the proper precautions in preventing high levels of mold.\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/thewercshop.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">The Werc Shop<\/a> also finds similar problems when conducting laboratory analysis, but unlike Dr. Martyny they <strong><em>DO <\/em><\/strong>test cannabis from legal dispensaries.\u00a0 In a recent conversation with marijuana.net, Dr. Jeffrey C. Raber of the Los Angeles area lab said \u201cWe have had numerous secret shoppers find instances of mold and bacteria present at unacceptable, sometimes alarmingly high levels.\u201d\u00a0 The Werc Shop is one of the most well regarded testing laboratories and was responsible for much of the screening for the 2012 High Times Los Angeles Cannabis Cup.<\/p>\n<p>Research shows that we may only be hitting the tip of the iceberg in regards to just how much potential medical marijuana holds.\u00a0 However, as with any consumable product, improper testing and screening invites devastating side effects.\u00a0 The high levels of mold found by both Dr. Martyny and Dr. Raber only highlight the need for regulation and testing.\u00a0 The products created by large Pharmaceutical companies have to abide by FDA standards and a lack of regulation would not be accepted even for over the counter medicines.\u00a0 As the national campaigns ignores this problem, it is up to patients and activists to demand for regulation, testing, and safety.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[210,52,166,376,496,497,147,498,499,500,56,9,68,501,51,502,70,503,1,3,143,61],"tags":[2788,2632,2744,2954,3070,3071,2725,3072,3073,3074,2636,2647,3075,2631,3076,5,3077,2721,6],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/698"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=698"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/698\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=698"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=698"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=698"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}