Colorado Growers Thread

[MrTea]

Until researchers can pinpoint The problem....imgonna go with residual pesticides on that subject..

Was your friend smoking 0ppm concentrates? If not, too many dabs (imo) are not the cause, but too many chemicals are.

 

[Ganoderma]

in some people cannabis hypermesis is a real problem, caused by ABUSE, even beyond chronic use.... like dabs all day. imo it's real, had a friend who would have "episodes"

I personally know of one person who is allergic to ALL types of cannabis including hemp. Contact to 2nd hand smoke causes hives for this person.

 

[MrTea]

The best article I've seen yet on the subject regarding the illegal pesticide use on cannabis in Colorado. This was posted earlier today.

Denver Investigated 10 Pot Grows for Use of Banned Pesticides, Holds Plants

This spring, ten commercial cannabis grows have been investigated by the City of Denver for allegedly using potentially harmful chemicals on plants, and many of those grows are directly connected to popular dispensaries.

In documents obtained by the Cannabis Consumers Coalition via the Colorado Open Records Act (the documents are on view below), the Denver Department of Environmental Health reports on recent investigations of nine marijuana cultivation facilities for reportedly using chemical pesticides such as Avid, Mallet and Eagle 20 — a petroleum-based fungicide. According to Denver Citywide Communications Advisor Daniel Rowland, all nine of the grows complied with the city during its investigations, but Denver still has many of the plants on hold. Putting marijuana plants on hold allows the business to continue growing them, but the plants cannot be sold until cleared by the city.

The nine grows mentioned in the documents aren't the only cultivation operations under scrutiny. As reported by 9News, a Denver growing operation for LivWell — a chain of dispensaries with nine locations in the state — had approximately 60,000 plants put on hold in April after health officials deemed LivWell's use of Eagle 20 could be unsafe for consumption.

"Testing of our finished product by an independent, state-licensed lab approved by the City of Denver showed that our products are safe – as we have always maintained," John Lord said in a statement. "We have reached an agreement with the City resulting in a release of the hold order on the tested products and all similar products. More importantly, over the last two weeks, we have been working hand-in-hand with the Denver Department of Environmental Health to design and implement what we hope will be an industry standard testing regime to ensure safe cannabis products. We are proud to be able to meaningfully contribute to the standards that will ensure public health and safety moving forward. "

Asked about that LivWell statement, Rowland says that some of its products did receive a release from the city's hold.

Used to fight powdery mildew on plants, Eagle 20 has become a subject of debate among cannabis growers because of its unknown long-term effects. A 2012 study by Dow AgroSciences showed that Eagle 20 contained numerous chemicals that had caused cancer in lab animals, but whose effect on humans has not been documented. The lack of conclusive science regarding pesticide and cannabis has created a gray area for regulated pot cultivation.

Because marijuana is illegal on a federal level, few pesticides have been created specifically for it, and states in which cannabis has been legalized have to do their own research on what's harmful and what isn't. Neither the Environmental Protection Agency nor the U.S. Department of Agriculture lists pesticides that may be used by marijuana grows; nor do they list prohibited pesticides. While the Colorado Department of Agriculture does not have a list of pesticides banned for cannabis cultivation, there is a CDA-approved list of marijuana pesticides that regulated growing operations in the state are supposed to follow. The approved list, last updated April 30, does not contain Eagle 20, Avid or Mallet.

"The Environmental Health inspection team will get a referral, typically from the Fire Department while they're inspecting grows, and if they see some chemicals or red flags, they act on it," Rowland says of Denver inspectors. "Sometimes it's the employees of the grows themselves."

Rowland compares inspections of the grows to inspections of Denver restaurants. "What we do is purely on consumer health and safety," he explains. "Environmental Health is checking not just if the chemicals are approved or not, but also how they're used. There could be an approved pesticide on the list being used, but if the label says use for once a month and the grow is using it once a day, then there's a problem."
Related Stories

Pot Pesticide Contamination in Denver Grows?
Marijuana Lab: Report Doesn't Mean Pot Mold Is Putting Patients at Risk

Organic Greens, one of the grows with plants on hold for use of Eagle 20, sought to lift the hold in court, claiming city officials had no right to quarantine its products and arguing that the amount of the chemical fungicide used on its plants was safe. On May 15, a Denver judge denied Organic Greens's request for a preliminary injunction to stop the Denver Department of Environmental Health's pesticide enforcement and lift the hold.

Here is the status of eight other growing facilities investigated by the city, according to Rowland.

Altitude East Treatments: Plants remain on hold. This grow was found using Avid, Eagle and Mallet; it supplies plants for Altitude dispensary locations on Evans Avenue and Federal Boulevard. Those dispensaries did not respond to Westword requests for comment.

Evolutionary Holdings: Plants remain on hold. The grow, which sells its products through Denver dispensary Element420, was found using Eagle 20 and "other pesticides" at its grow site. "We are waiting to hear from the regulatory authorities and will hold off on commenting until we know more," Evolutionary Holdings said in a statement.
Myclobutanil, the active ingredient in Eagle20, has an acute toxicity rating of "slightly hazardous" by the World Health Organization.
Myclobutanil, the active ingredient in Eagle20, has an acute toxicity rating of "slightly hazardous" by the World Health Organization.

Green Cross Colorado: Plants remain on hold. This grow produces plants for edibles; it's been quarantined for Eagle 20 and Mallet. Green Cross Colorado owner Daniel Griffin says it would be inappropriate to comment on the city's active investigation.

The Green Solution: The company, which has nine dispensaries in Colorado, had plants put on hold because at one of its grows, the city found "Eagle 20 and other pesticides that may cause potential contamination and a potential health risk," according to the documents. Plants remain quarantined, but some of its dried product received a limited, conditional release as a result of testing by the Colorado Department of Agriculture. The released product is for smoking only, and customers must be informed at the point of sale that it is not suitable for human consumption in any other manner.

In an official statement, the company said it takes customer safety very seriously. "We have been working closely with city and state governmental officials to find a resolution to their concerns over pesticide use on cannabis product and have cooperated fully and openly in these efforts," the statement reads. "The pesticides we use on our cannabis products are approved for use on food similar to cannabis, such as hops, grapes, berries, and corn. We use the recommended and proper amounts of all substances, as determined by our team of plant-science experts and as established by product labeling. Pesticides in general are appropriately and safely used in cultivation to eliminate potentially harmful pests and disease from plants, including cannabis, which might otherwise harm consumers."

Mindful: Plants remain on hold. The grow's plants were quarantined after city officials found they were treated with Eagle 20. Company spokesman Erik Williams says Mindful has cooperated fully with Denver and the matter has been resolved.

MMJ America: Grow destroyed plants after city officials confirmed they were sprayed with Avid. According to company CEO Jake Salazar, an employee had treated 100 clones with the banned insecticide, was fired for it and then alerted the city in retaliation. "The state came in and tested every room in our facility, and we tested negative for Eagle 20 and any other banned pesticide," he says. The quarantine has been lifted.

Organic Greens: Plants remain on hold. The grow, which sells its plants through downtown dispensary Natural Remedies, had plants quarantined for treating them with Eagle 20 and failing to update pesticide logs. The company did not respond to requests for comment.

RINO Supply: Voluntarily destroyed approximately 1,548 plants after the city investigated a grow facility for pesticide use. "It was my personal decision, in an abundance of caution for my patients, that I decided to destroy the plants and start fresh in that facility," says RINO president Jared Penman. "It didn't make sense to do anything else." The hold has been lifted.

Sweet Leaf: The company, which has three locations in Denver and one in Aurora, had plants put on hold after city officials found evidence of Eagle 20 at one of its facilities. "We're waiting to see the test results on it," says a Sweet Leaf spokesman. "We wouldn't put anything in our stores that wasn't safe."

Larisa Bolivar, the director of the Cannabis Consumers Coalition who filed the request for information on the city's investigations of the grows, says she understands the challenges that large-scale growing operations go through in regards to pests and fungi, but points out that those challenges are no excuse to cut corners.

“This is dangerous to public safety, and we need better testing policies that put consumer safety first," she said in a press release. "Retail cannabis is supposed to be tested for harmful pesticides, and there already exists a list of acceptable pesticides. This is at best gross negligence on behalf of the offending businesses that shows more concern for money than for safety."

Mandatory testing for all marijuana intended for retail sale in Colorado was supposed to begin this past October, but backlogs in state-approved marijuana testing labs prevented that from happening. During the recent legislative session, a state Senate panel recommended a $300,000 allocation for the Colorado Department of Agriculture for chemical testing of commercial cannabis, but that proposal was not approved by the legislature.

Whatever business had these products sprayed in their facility whether to their knowledge or not should be forced to cull everything or at least be allowed to take clones first. Spraying these chemicals in encapsulated facilities does not just contaminate the plants being sprayed, but also every other plant within the vicinity. We all know that canna testing is still a grey area when it comes to testing for pesticides. As one researcher puts it, "It's like searching for a needle in a haystack of needles". There are thousands of chemicals to test for and if any evidence is found there should be repercussion, IMO. If anything let them sell their product , but force them to put a warning on the front of every last gram they sell:

 

[who dat is]

Help!

Help!

Can I get the honest input from anybody experienced with the Colorado weed industry? I posted something along these lines on my instagram several days ago but didn't get but one response. I thought I would at least try it first here instead of posting a new thread. I searched around but surprisingly found little to no info here on the board.

I need to preface with the face that I currently have a really good job but have since lost my passion for it almost entirely. It has been a dream to work in the legitimate cannabis industry for years and now I'm getting serious about making the transition. The writing is on the wall and I can see what direction it's going to be heading in. Right off the bat I was wondering which application I should be filling out. There is the, "Medical Marijuana Key Employee License Application" https://www.colorado.gov/pacific/sites/default/files/DR%208526e%20Key%20Appl%2001062015.pdf which is $300 to apply for and then there is the "Medical Marijuana Support Employee License Application" https://www.colorado.gov/pacific/sites/default/files/DR%208525e%20Support%20Appl%2001062015_1.pdf that's $150. I would jump on the first one in the hopes that it would keep more doors open for me rather than just being a budtender or something like that (definitely not belittling the position mind you). I have experience with customer service, project management, dealing with contractors, coordinating a lot of the behind the scenes stuff, hobby scale growing for years now, and of course all the nice buzz words and adjectives that make me sounds super spiff. I have experience with tons of other stuff as well but I would think that's the most applicable stuff somebody in the industry cares about right? Does the Key Employee license kind of trump the other one in that you could do both types of jobs if need be? What are the pay scales for various jobs and their levels? I've lived in Colorado for years now too so it's so like I'm somebody in Ohio thinking about moving on a whim. Do y'all have any advice on the application process itself too as in what to expect, remember, and look out for? Am I going to have to get record transcripts to provide as well? What's the best way for that?

I'll be in a good place to transition from my current job in several months time but want to have everything lined up that I can, get the correct license, and have job prospects and interviews going on so there is minimal down time between gigs. (A break for traveling would be incredible though!)

I guess it all boils down to being a somewhat typical Millenial (minus the entitled part) and would rather work a job that interests me and I'm passionate about rather than climbing the ladder for the sake of money. Much of my spare time is reading and learning about the different facets of weed, edification edification edification!

Any advice for somebody who works hard, sincerely wants to learn and improve, is not a growbro or treethugger, and has my shit together?

***I'm welcome to any and all advice in this thread, private message, or otherwise so long as it is not in conflict with the TOU of this website***

I'll get off my soapbox now, thanks for your time, and if I should start a thread what's the best one to start in?

 

[MrTea]

Once you get your badge, you better know someone in the industry. If not, expect to trim for several years.

 

[who dat is]

Once you get your badge, you better know someone in the industry. If not, expect to trim for several years.

Yeah I was expecting something along those lines to get my foot in the door but ddammnnn. Thanks for the input

 

[Avinash.miles]

key badge must be tied to a licensee (shop, grow, mips), don't get it till ya have a job at a shop
so start with a support badge, they do a super-up-yer-ass background check (criminal, tax, debt, irs), same kinda thing you would go thru to get a job at a casino (and then some).

 

[who dat is]

key badge must be tied to a licensee (shop, grow, mips), don't get it
so start with a support badge, they do a super-up-yer-ass background check (criminal, tax, debt, irs), same kinda thing you would go thru to get a job at a casino (and then some).

Hell yeah, stuff like this is awesome to know.

 

[Lesterburnum]

Like in any job, determination is a key to success and moving up. You may start as a trimmer but if you have the tenacity and drive the upper management sees this. They want people with drive and determination and will recognize this. And those are the people that move up.

Not the db that acts entitled and that he knows everything from a couple tent runs.
Just my two cents

 

[Jhhnn]

Like in any job, determination is a key to success and moving up. You may start as a trimmer but if you have the tenacity and drive the upper management sees this. They want people with drive and determination and will recognize this. And those are the people that move up.

Not the db that acts entitled and that he knows everything from a couple tent runs.
Just my two cents

Like this?

 

[Dready_jake]

in some people cannabis hypermesis is a real problem, caused by ABUSE, even beyond chronic use.... like dabs all day. imo it's real, had a friend who would have "episodes"

Until researchers can pinpoint The problem....imgonna go with residual pesticides on that subject..

"Was your friend smoking 0ppm concentrates? If not, too many dabs (imo) are not the cause, but too many chemicals are."-mrtea

I too would like to know if it was pestiside free and 0residual ppms. But you could never tell me that unless you grew it. There are a lot more factors these days than "he was smoking cannabis" was his diet perfect did he eat 3 square meals a day with perfect snacks like nuts and fruit? There are other things to consider when it comes to the physiology of us.
I went through a spell of skipping breakfast and felt the detrimental effects. Not quickly mind you it took a year or two to realize that causing myelf to go from dinner the night before to lunch the next day was hell on the body. But the body was very resistant tobeing reintroduced to breakfast at first because it had become accustomed to being without. It has now subsided entirely, and I'm even still on the pesticidal dispos shatter. Although it sounds like they might finally be cracking down on that, only time will tell

Plain and simple me and others get sicker off dispos weed but not our homegrown stuff that is spray free. I literally only spray yucca soap and plant extracts on my leafs. Neem oil included those other things aren't ever meant to be smoked and doing so gradually or sometimes immediately make us feel bad.

Edit: P.s.I'm allergic to Mexican sativa genetics, I.e. most everything in dispensaries these days lol. Not allergic in that I can't smoke but rolling joints of sour diesel and flo cause me crazy sneezing and brushing up against those and others like trainwrecks in veg cause harmless not even really itchy little hives. I love smoking all of those strains and flo one I'm most allergic to because of the highland oaxican gold that's in it was/still is by far one of my favorite all around strains. My understanding is that HOG was the strain that got diluted by nearby growers in mexico into what's now Mexican sativa. Feel free to chime in on that tho. The highland oaxican gold is what I've figured out I'm highly allergic to but I still love to smoke its genetics.

 

[Jhhnn]

in some people cannabis hypermesis is a real problem, caused by ABUSE, even beyond chronic use.... like dabs all day. imo it's real, had a friend who would have "episodes"

Interesting. Reading up, it's a very rare condition that's diagnosed all over the world. Given that, it's hard to pin it on adulterants like pesticides because there's probably no commonality in use of pesticides.

Given the range of human physiology, it may be something that anybody might experience if they work at it or something that only a small % can possibly experience. Impossible to say at this point.

Any heavy toker experiencing the symptoms needs to lay off the pipe & see what happens. The very small % of tokers who are truly compulsive can't really back off any more than an alcoholic can limit consumption so they'd have to quit entirely to find relief.

A place to start for anybody who wants to read up-

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannabinoid_hyperemesis_syndrome

 

[Avinash.miles]

dude was smoking his own home grown that had no chem residuals... and was grown well and responsibly, and dabs we made ourselves (from the same herbs) and vac purged for days.

i'm not here to CONVINCE ANYONE that hypermesis is real, just to say that I believe it's real because i have SEEN it. the showers, vertigo, constant vomitting.... we were like everyone else when docs at the ER said it was cause of cannabis... we were like "NO, WAY"... but after a year of seeing him have episodes right after days of BIG smoking sessions. imo hypermesis is real, i've seen it.
if you ain't never SEEN it, watched someone go thru it... i'm sure it's very easy to blame on everything (and anything) but cannabis.

and while i agree that dispensary weed is most often tainted, i don't think THAT issue has anything to do with hypermesis

 

[SoiledMyself]

I believe I have some sort of allergy to cannabis , but I think it is only wet unfinished product/flowering plants. During trimming I sneeze , get rashes and my eyes swell. Once the product is dried and cured properly its no problem......

 

[MrTea]

I have allergies to a lot of different types of grasses. Depending on the grass if it comes into contact with my arms, legs, or hands, I develop itching and rashes. I have found that this is sometimes the case with my plants. If any fan leaves come into contact with my arms I have to go rinse and wash my arms after every time I leave the grow room. It's such a pain in the ass. No problem smoking it though.

 

[Seaf0ur]

dude was smoking his own home grown that had no chem residuals... and was grown well and responsibly, and dabs we made ourselves (from the same herbs) and vac purged for days.

i'm not here to CONVINCE ANYONE that hypermesis is real, just to say that I believe it's real because i have SEEN it. the showers, vertigo, constant vomitting.... we were like everyone else when docs at the ER said it was cause of cannabis... we were like "NO, WAY"... but after a year of seeing him have episodes right after days of BIG smoking sessions. imo hypermesis is real, i've seen it.
if you ain't never SEEN it, watched someone go thru it... i'm sure it's very easy to blame on everything (and anything) but cannabis.

and while i agree that dispensary weed is most often tainted, i don't think THAT issue has anything to do with hypermesis

I think both...

its real... (but rare)

I'd think its symptoms are exacerbated by chem grown moreso than "organic" and certainly less with an all natural product...

and in these days of legalization... and regulation... its also a very convenient retort to the "cannabis never hurt anyone" argument.

somethin akin to an allergy would make much more sense than the thought that one day... after years of smoking... this [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]hypermesis can just "pop up"[/FONT]

 

[Jbomber79]

I had a nasty allergy to some "og" that came from a dispo... maybe someday people will be able to purchase well grown herb that does not contain chemicals that are harmful.. in the mean time I'll continue growing and hoping that I don't get hypermesis, what a nightmare that would be..

 

[Jhhnn]

I had a nasty allergy to some "og" that came from a dispo... maybe someday people will be able to purchase well grown herb that does not contain chemicals that are harmful.. in the mean time I'll continue growing and hoping that I don't get hypermesis, what a nightmare that would be..

I suspect a key element in that avoidance is a bit of self restraint. If what Miles offers is typical in such cases then gluttony is a factor, ya know?

 

[Dready_jake]

Interesting. Reading up, it's a very rare condition that's diagnosed all over the world. Given that, it's hard to pin it on adulterants like pesticides because there's probably no commonality in use of pesticides.

Given the range of human physiology, it may be something that anybody might experience if they work at it or something that only a small % can possibly experience. Impossible to say at this point.

Any heavy toker experiencing the symptoms needs to lay off the pipe & see what happens. The very small % of tokers who are truly compulsive can't really back off any more than an alcoholic can limit consumption so they'd have to quit entirely to find relief.

A place to start for anybody who wants to read up-

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannabinoid_hyperemesis_syndrome

At a time the majority of weed in the world came from the same regions, illegal still but exported around the world. In an illegal setting NO ONE is monitoring what is put in meaning that all these growers trying to protect their crops will spray whatever kills the bugs, we don't know what any of those cases were smoking and the fact that cannabis is exported globally kills your "its happening all over the world theory" because they all could have gotten the same batch of TAINTED Columbian or something. Fast forward to today and we read that people in LEGAL states are still spraying dangerous chemicals on smoked plants. Even if they are safe to consume they're not typically safe to smoke. I would like to know if these doctors are experts on pesticide symptoms or just finding a problem and seeing THC in their system stopped looking and made that the scapegoat for the issue. I'd still like to know if each of these cases had a perfect diet and ate 3 square meals with healthy snacks, when my diet was shit I felt similar to these symptoms. When I started eating breakfast and all around healthier it all went away. I don't think they took the necessary steps to prove that it was just cannabis and not TAINTED cannabis or poor diet. There are just to many factors for me to agree that it exists.

 

[Jhhnn]

At a time the majority of weed in the world came from the same regions, illegal still but exported around the world. In an illegal setting NO ONE is monitoring what is put in meaning that all these growers trying to protect their crops will spray whatever kills the bugs, we don't know what any of those cases were smoking and the fact that cannabis is exported globally kills your "its happening all over the world theory" because they all could have gotten the same batch of TAINTED Columbian or something. Fast forward to today and we read that people in LEGAL states are still spraying dangerous chemicals on smoked plants. Even if they are safe to consume they're not typically safe to smoke. I would like to know if these doctors are experts on pesticide symptoms or just finding a problem and seeing THC in their system stopped looking and made that the scapegoat for the issue. I'd still like to know if each of these cases had a perfect diet and ate 3 square meals with healthy snacks, when my diet was shit I felt similar to these symptoms. When I started eating breakfast and all around healthier it all went away. I don't think they took the necessary steps to prove that it was just cannabis and not TAINTED cannabis or poor diet. There are just to many factors for me to agree that it exists.

Please. You didn't even read the link which points out that it's a recently developed diagnosis, from 2004 & 2009. Imported Colombian weed passed into legend long ago. I'll agree that outlaw growers everywhere will do what they think they need to do to bring home the harvest, but that doesn't mean they do it the same way or use the same chemicals everywhere. Different adulterants will have different effects & it would be incorrect to assume it's the same everywhere.

I also know Miles & trust that he won't put out bogus information. I realize that prohibitionists will seize on anything for fear mongering purposes but that shouldn't stand in the way of honest & open minded appraisals. I figure it'll never be an issue, anyway, other than for folks who stay totally baked.