California cannabis brands, retailers, and testing labs are scrambling to regain the confidence of consumers in the wake of a pesticide scandal that has poisoned goodwill in the state’s regulated industry.
Some retailers, such as Long Beach-based Catalyst Cannabis Co., are running their own independent lab tests to sniff out potentially contaminated products and identify their source. Meanwhile, the Department of Cannabis Control (DCC), the state’s chief marijuana regulator, is facing criticism from nearly every segment of the industry after a report by the Los Angeles Times and WeedWeek that highlighted the presence of pesticides in several regulated products.
Some products tested well beyond thresholds set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for a single exposure, underscoring potential safety hazards for consumers and presenting a significant challenge to retailers and other license holders.
