Business Risks of Selling Moldy Weed

Choosing Not To Decontaminate Your Flower Puts Your Business, Your Customers, and Your State’s Cannabis Program at Risk

Risks to Your Customers

Selling moldy weed puts your customers’ health at risk. It can cause issues like:

• coughing
• nausea and vomiting
• congestion
• wheezing and shortness of breath

Some factors can increase the risks of smoking moldy weed, including if the customer is allergic to mold or has a weakened immune system. In these cases, inflammation of the lungs and sinuses can also occur.[1]

In extreme cases, cannabis patients who’ve inhaled moldy weed have been hospitalized and/or have died.

Risks to your Employees

Selling moldy weed puts your customers’ health at risk. It can cause issues like:

• coughing
• nausea and vomiting
• congestion
• wheezing and shortness of breath

Some factors can increase the risks of smoking moldy weed, including if the customer is allergic to mold or has a weakened immune system. In these cases, inflammation of the lungs and sinuses can also occur.[1]

In extreme cases, cannabis patients who’ve inhaled moldy weed have been hospitalized and/or have died.

Risks to Your State's Program

All of the above risks jeopardize your state’s cannabis program. The cannabis industry as a whole is still new enough that one uncooperative business brings all others into question. If one business chooses to disregard regulatory compliance and sell moldy weed to the masses, customers, employees, and regulators alike will become suspicious of all cannabis businesses.

This suspicion can cause the state to investigate its program as a whole, but it can also cause customers and employees to take matters into their own hands. And if there’s one thing worse than regulators questioning the validity and integrity of its cannabis license holders, it’s paying customers and hard-working employees questioning the validity of the state’s program in general. Without their support, there is no program.

For example, a 2016 letter to the editor published in the Clinical Microbiology and Infection (CMI) Journal called out cannabis samples from legal operations in northern California for “numerous Gram-negative bacilli and fungal pathogens contaminating medical marijuana” which “pose a grave risk” to consumers, especially those who are immunocompromised. Two of the letter’s authors were employed at a commercial cannabis testing lab.

Likewise, the Massachusetts business currently facing a $200K fine mentioned earlier was called out by its own employees and a few of its customers.

This type of distrust within the industry is not lost on consumers or state regulators. The more eyes that are brought upon a state’s program, the more trust between customer and business is eroded, and the more the state may feel it needs to be involved.

Risks to Your Bottom Line

Consumers do not need to give any cannabis business a second chance. No matter which state you’re in, the market is saturated and there is always another brand they can try instead. If they buy an eighth of your flower only to discover it’s coated in mold, your business may experience backlash or reputation damage that could negatively impact your brand and your bottom line.

For example, recently, the Colorado Department of Revenue (DOR) and the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) issued a Health and Safety Advisory for flower sold by one particular brand. The advisory states the brand sold flower that was “...tested and found to have exceeded acceptable limits established for Total Yeast and Mold.”

According to the advisory, 12 dispensary storefronts were selling this moldy weed. While the extent of the hit this brand will take isn’t yet clear, it’s likely their operator’s distribution system is now corrupted as those storefronts will be hesitant to purchase from them again. And with word out to the industry and the public, it will be hard for them to find other distributors.

Similarly, retaining staff after employees, customers, or the state issues a health advisory like this one can be difficult and could derail this brand’s operations.

The spotlight put on a state’s cannabis program after one of its license holders pushes contaminated products can lead to greater oversight and more intense regulations, ultimately costing growers more time and money to remain compliant.

The Most Cost-Effective Strategy for Decontaminating Cannabis

Several options are available to cannabis operators looking to decontaminate their flower. Ionizing radiation technologies like gamma, E-beam, and X-ray are one option; however, these change the molecular structure of the plant, altering its chemical makeup. Additionally, all three come with extra costs—gamma and E-beam decontamination must be done offsite, and X-ray requires the purchase of extra chiller equipment if you choose to do it onsite.

Non-ionizing radiation is considered a safer option for decontaminating cannabis flower. In particular, radio frequency (RF) is a frontrunner for states and other countries currently discussing and implementing regulatory requirements. RF has been used in the agricultural sector for decades and is approved by the National Organic Program (NOP) and the USDA for organic operations as it does not alter the molecular structure of the plant.

Explore Radio Frequency Decontamination for Your Business

Ziel currently leads the industry for radio frequency decontamination with the Ziel RFX. The machine can be easily integrated into your current operation and working within one week, processing up to 160 pounds of flower in an eight-hour shift.

Using the Ziel RFX guarantees greater than a 99% pass rate for regulatory compliance, essentially eliminating all of the risks to your business discussed above.

If you’re curious to learn more about how radio frequency can improve your business and safeguard it from regulatory issues, get in touch with Ziel today.