Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper yesterday told state agencies that any marijuana grown with unapproved pesticides is a threat to public safety and should be removed from commerce and destroyed, reports the Denver Post. The order is Hickenlooper’s first word on a months-old controversy over pesticide use to grow cannabis and a more aggressive approach than the half-dozen recalls by Denver heath officials have put on thousands of contaminated products, some of it later allowed back into commerce. The order was the result of a collaboration with officials from several state agencies “provides much needed clarity on the use of pesticides” and how agencies should treat them, said a joint announcement.
The order says agencies should use all investigative and enforcement authority to end the threat, “including, but not limited to, placing contaminated marijuana on administrative hold and destroying contaminated marijuana pursuant to existing law.” The order comes after Post stories that showed how potentially harmful pesticides barred for use on cannabis were still being applied and found at high concentrations in products sold to consumers.