If you are smoking up, the BC government wants to be sure the product is coming from licenced sellers..As part of a pilot study, the BC Cannabis Secretariat sent 20 dried cannabis samples to a federally licensed analytical testing lab in February, 2021. The samples – which had been seized by the provincial Community Safety Unit from illicit retailers – contained a total of 24 distinct pesticides, along with “unacceptable levels of bacteria, fungi, lead and arsenic,” according to Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth..The study claims some growers may be engaging in practices that pose risks to consumers and employees handling the product, as indicated by the frequency and variety of contaminants identified..“My message to people who choose to consume cannabis is simple,” said Farnworth..“Buy from legal sellers whose regulated product is subject to national requirements that are in place to protect you.”.Farnworth also said in addition to the health risks, purchasing illegal cannabis means you could be supporting organized criminal operations who “pose a danger to our communities.”.There are more than 370 legal cannabis stores in BC, and roughly 160 illicit stores have either been forced to or voluntarily shut down since enforcement began after non-medical marijuana became legal, according to Farnworth..“When the arguably six billion dollar industry was legalized, few, if not none of the groups previously involved have gone away. The market just opened up to legitimate buyers,” a former Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit senior officer told the Western Standard..“Those guys were already well established in production, distribution, marketing, sales, wholesale, and retail across Canada … and they also have roots in the US..“Organized crime groups are also going to farmers up the valley and saying, ‘Look, I’ll build you a barn if I can use it for five years.’.“They are making huge profits at half the cost of government cannabis … some of these barns are doing 10 million dollars a year in wholesale prices, and of course this money and these organizations are often connected to the lower Mainland conflict.”.Farnworth has said in contrast to buying contaminated products which contribute to organized crime, the public can instead buy from a licensed seller and “feel assured that the tax revenue will go toward the public services that we all rely on.”.The National Collaborating Centre for Environmental Health set forth a list of evident limitations to the analysis, such as how the small sub-sample is not representative of all illicit cannabis in Metro Vancouver. The samples may have been produced by 20 different growers, or one. They may have been grown within Metro Vancouver or may have been sourced from elsewhere..The National Centre elected not to perform health risk assessment using the data, due to concerns of over or under-representing the risk to the public..“This is a continuation of the same fear mongering tactics,” Jodie Emery, Canadian cannabis activist and publisher of Cannabis Culture told the Western Standard..“The government needs to accept responsibility for tainted cannabis. When they complain about dangerous shady people who are involved, it’s because they themselves have criminalized it, they’ve kept it criminal. This incentivizes people who are shady and unscrupulous..“If the government allowed the mom and pop shop to operate, they would do it with pride, honour, and integrity … but when the government threatens prison time and massive fines, the market goes to people who are potentially dangerous. Cannabis wasn’t legalized, it was just corporatized.”.Reid Small is a BC correspondent for the Western Standard.,.rsmall@westernstandardonline.com
If you are smoking up, the BC government wants to be sure the product is coming from licenced sellers..As part of a pilot study, the BC Cannabis Secretariat sent 20 dried cannabis samples to a federally licensed analytical testing lab in February, 2021. The samples – which had been seized by the provincial Community Safety Unit from illicit retailers – contained a total of 24 distinct pesticides, along with “unacceptable levels of bacteria, fungi, lead and arsenic,” according to Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth..The study claims some growers may be engaging in practices that pose risks to consumers and employees handling the product, as indicated by the frequency and variety of contaminants identified..“My message to people who choose to consume cannabis is simple,” said Farnworth..“Buy from legal sellers whose regulated product is subject to national requirements that are in place to protect you.”.Farnworth also said in addition to the health risks, purchasing illegal cannabis means you could be supporting organized criminal operations who “pose a danger to our communities.”.There are more than 370 legal cannabis stores in BC, and roughly 160 illicit stores have either been forced to or voluntarily shut down since enforcement began after non-medical marijuana became legal, according to Farnworth..“When the arguably six billion dollar industry was legalized, few, if not none of the groups previously involved have gone away. The market just opened up to legitimate buyers,” a former Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit senior officer told the Western Standard..“Those guys were already well established in production, distribution, marketing, sales, wholesale, and retail across Canada … and they also have roots in the US..“Organized crime groups are also going to farmers up the valley and saying, ‘Look, I’ll build you a barn if I can use it for five years.’.“They are making huge profits at half the cost of government cannabis … some of these barns are doing 10 million dollars a year in wholesale prices, and of course this money and these organizations are often connected to the lower Mainland conflict.”.Farnworth has said in contrast to buying contaminated products which contribute to organized crime, the public can instead buy from a licensed seller and “feel assured that the tax revenue will go toward the public services that we all rely on.”.The National Collaborating Centre for Environmental Health set forth a list of evident limitations to the analysis, such as how the small sub-sample is not representative of all illicit cannabis in Metro Vancouver. The samples may have been produced by 20 different growers, or one. They may have been grown within Metro Vancouver or may have been sourced from elsewhere..The National Centre elected not to perform health risk assessment using the data, due to concerns of over or under-representing the risk to the public..“This is a continuation of the same fear mongering tactics,” Jodie Emery, Canadian cannabis activist and publisher of Cannabis Culture told the Western Standard..“The government needs to accept responsibility for tainted cannabis. When they complain about dangerous shady people who are involved, it’s because they themselves have criminalized it, they’ve kept it criminal. This incentivizes people who are shady and unscrupulous..“If the government allowed the mom and pop shop to operate, they would do it with pride, honour, and integrity … but when the government threatens prison time and massive fines, the market goes to people who are potentially dangerous. Cannabis wasn’t legalized, it was just corporatized.”.Reid Small is a BC correspondent for the Western Standard.,.rsmall@westernstandardonline.com
