Connect with us

breaking news

LCB Enforcement and Education staff have identified a pattern of pesticide testing failures that point to product contamination in a specific region of Okanogan County.

Published

on


To:      Cannabis Licensees

Fr:       Chandra Wax, LCB Director of Enforcement and Education

Re:      Notice of Pesticide Contamination in Region of Okanogan County

I am writing to notify you of an emergent issue in Okanogan County regarding pesticide contamination.

LCB Enforcement and Education staff have identified a pattern of pesticide testing failures that point to product contamination in a specific region of Okanogan County. Random testing of products from impacted locations has been completed with detectable levels of dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (DDE) and many exceed action levels. DDE is a remnant product of DDT — a pesticide that was banned in the United States in the 1970s. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has a fact sheet on DDT, DDD, and DDE exposure.

Background

For several years LCB has been taking random samples from licensed cannabis locations to screen for a broad range of pesticides. The LCB contracts with the state Dept. of Agriculture (WSDA) laboratory in Yakima to perform pesticide tests. The WSDA lab can currently detect 243 pesticides. Their testing includes DDT and its breakdown products such as DDE.

Currently, state-certified cannabis-testing labs are not required to screen for DDE among the 59 pesticides included in mandatory testing because DDE contamination above actionable levels has not emerged elsewhere. Therefore, licensees may not know the contamination exists unless their location was chosen by the LCB for random testing.

The cannabis crop possesses a unique vulnerability with respect to environmental contamination. The plants can absorb contaminants such as pesticides and heavy metals to a much higher degree than many other plants. This unique characteristic poses a problem for producers growing cannabis. Cannabis that is concentrated into oils may subsequently concentrate any contamination by five to ten-fold.

Action Steps

To ensure public safety and health, The LCB is taking the following actions:

Immediate Actions

  • Placing administrative holds on licensees in the affected geographic area with above actionable limits of DDE;
  • Upon confirmation that DDE exists in the soil in this region, placing administrative holds on all licensees in the geographic area;
  • Requesting a list of all products distributed since August 2022 from all licensees in the geographic area;
  • Securing and testing on-shelf products from all 18 licensees in the geographical area; and
  • Requesting the licensees in the geographic area with DDE tests above actionable limits conduct a licensee-initiated recall on all products.

Future Actions

The LCB will soon:

  • Initiate emergency rulemaking to require a result of 50% of the actionable level of DDE for any plants grown in the soil from this geographical region;
  • Initiate long-term rulemaking requiring DDD and DDE testing;
  • Work with appropriate state agencies to conduct soil and water testing in this defined geographical region; and
  • LCB Enforcement and Education Division employees will conduct ongoing product testing in the defined geographical region.

 

Next Steps

The LCB will soon be scheduling an online meeting with the 18 affected licensees to share additional information, hear concerns and answer questions. In addition, the WSDA is prioritizing product sample testing form the crops in this region. As the agency learns more from the soil and product testing, we will communicate again with any appropriate additional information.

In the meantime, licensees are encouraged to speak with their LCB enforcement officer or compliance consultant with specific questions or concerns.



Source link

Continue Reading

breaking news

Latina woman alleges she was denied job with cannabis nonprofit because she’s not Black

Published

on

By


A Latina from Lawndale is suing an organization that bills itself as fighting for “cannabis justice” with a goal to “heal the legacy of racism in America,” alleging she was told she was not chosen for a position with the nonprofit in 2023 because she is not Black.

Briseida Lupercio Chavez’s Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit against the Hood Incubator alleges racial discrimination, retaliation and wrongful failure to hire in violation of public policy. She seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.

A Hood Incubator representative did not immediately reply to a request for comment on the suit brought Jan. 5.

According to the suit, the Hood Incubator’s website states its purpose is to fight for “cannabis justice” and to “heal the legacy of racism in America . . . for the health and prosperity” of everyone.

“However, despite its stated vision of being an anti-racist organization, its blatantly discriminatory hiring practices could not be more contradictory to its stated purpose,” the suit states.

Chavez interviewed for a position with the Hood Incubator via Zoom last July with two organization representatives, one of whom is a managing agent, the suit states. The two representatives remained on the Zoom call after the interview and spent 10 minutes talking about why they were  not interested in hiring Chavez because she is not Black, the suit states.

Both representatives mocked Chavez’s race and for saying she had biracial children, telling the plaintiff they found her comments “off- putting” and falsely implying that she only claims to care about Black people because she has Black kids and friends,” according to the suit.

One of the representatives told Chavez that because she is a Latina, she is used to the Latino community “pulling strings for each other,” the suit states.

Chavez was “embarrassed, ashamed, emotionally broken and in financial desperation” after learning that she was not hired allegedly due to her race, national origin and/or color,” the suit states.

Latina woman alleges she was denied job with cannabis nonprofit because she’s not Black

 



Source link

Continue Reading

breaking news

Man allegedly killed roommate, went back to sleep and bought some cannabis before others implored him to call 911

Published

on

By


It is, of course, a law & crime story..

A Maryland man insisted that he shot his roommate in self-defense, but admitted he only called 911 after going back to sleep, buying some marijuana, and communicating with people who implored him to contact authorities, according to court documents obtained by Washington, D.C., NBC affiliate WRC and Fox affiliate WTTG.

Richard Bennaugh, 38, is charged with manslaughter, assault in the first degree, assault in the second degree, and possession of a firearm as someone convicted of a violent felony, show from Prince George’s County show.

Read more

‘There’s only one way to find out’: Man allegedly killed roommate, went back to sleep and bought some weed before others implored him to call 911



Source link

Continue Reading

breaking news

Illegal immigrant cannabis farmer, 30, is allowed to remain in Britain – because being sent back to Serbia would breach his human rights

Published

on

By


The Daily Mail get over excited once again…

A migrant who was jailed over a cannabis farm worth half a million pounds has been granted permission to stay in the UK after successfully arguing he could not be deported as he no longer spoke his native language.

Clirim Kukaj, 30, is ethnically Albanian but was born and brought up in Serbia until at the age of 13 he entered Britain illegally. Seven years later he was granted indefinite leave to remain.

Kukaj and his lawyers have now successfully appealed his deportation on the grounds that returning him to his native country would be a breach of his human rights because he cannot speak the language and can only converse in Albanian.

Immigrational tribunal judge Fiona Lindsley granted the appeal ‘on human rights grounds’, however, the decision has sparked renewed calls for human rights laws to be reconsidered.

A senior Conservative MP told the Telegraph: ‘This demonstrates why we need urgent reform of the asylum system and human rights laws to allow the rapid and effective deportation of dangerous criminals.’

More Blah here

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12941079/Migrant-cannabis-farmer-allowed-remain-Britain-human-right-no-longer-speak-language.html



Source link

Continue Reading
Advertisement

Trending

Copyright © 2021 The Art of MaryJane Media