Potentially fatal levels of toxic chemical pesticides and fertilizers were found in several strains of cannabis grown by alleged illicit grow houses that have received legal caregiver licenses.

The tainted cannabis flower is being shopped in bulk to legal medical dispensaries by suspected grow house owners, officials and dispensary workers say.

The Office of Cannabis Policy confirmed giving medical marijuana caregiver licenses to several suspected grow houses. Agency records indicate there may be more than 120 licensed grow houses statewide.

Clandestine, illegal cannabis grow houses have become a pervasive problem in rural Maine, with authorities estimating between 100 to 700 single-family homes have been gutted and converted into industrial-scale marijuana farms operated by Chinese transnational criminal groups. About 50 such operations have been raided so far this year.

Toxic pesticides, carcinogenic fertilizers and large black mold infestations have been found in nearly every raided grow house.

Because Maine’s medical cannabis market lacks mandatory chemical testing or inventory tracking requirements, officials warn that toxic grow house weed could be invisibly entering Maine dispensaries entirely legally.

“OCP remains concerned about illicit actors and illicit behaviors taking refuge in the medical cannabis program,” the agency’s media relations director, Alexis Soucy, said in a statement.

‘THAT STUFF IS DANGEROUS’

Several medical cannabis dispensaries in central Maine are reporting a sudden increase in suspected grow house operators attempting to sell cannabis flower by the pound for suspiciously low prices.

Corey Black, the owner and founder of Earth Keeper Cannabis in Wilton, reported three such instances between Oct. 4 and 9 to the Office of Cannabis Policy.

Security camera footage from the store showed three separate occasions in which suspected illicit growers attempted to sell zip-close bags full of cannabis to Black for $600 a pound — roughly half of the going rates from legal growers, she says.

Two sellers that approached Earth Keeper Cannabis were women, one was a man. All were of Chinese descent and spoke little to no English. Two brought business cards with phone numbers registered to Boston area codes. Each seller said they only grew one strain of marijuana, an uncommon practice for bulk cannabis farms.

The businesses on the cards both received legal caregiver licenses, OCP records show.

Black did not purchase any of the cannabis, instead taking samples for chemical testing.

“They each had at least a pound that they were looking to move,” Black said. “We tried asking specific questions like ‘When was this harvested?’ and ‘Do you use pesticides?’ and ‘What chemicals do you use when you’re growing?’ And they just didn’t answer any of it. They couldn’t answer questions about their process or anything like that.”

It’s not uncommon in Maine’s medical market for licensed growers to enter dispensaries looking to sell bulk flower they have on hand, industry workers say.

What is uncommon is the dangerous levels of toxic chemical pesticides and fertilizers found in cannabis flower from both growers.

Potentially fatal amounts of the toxic chemical insecticide Pyridaben — over 10 times what OCP says is safe — were found in a sample of a strain called “Platinum Kush.” Pyridaben is acutely toxic if inhaled and is generally sprayed directly on the plant.

The strain also contained levels of Paclobutrazol, a fertilizer which induces growth in cannabis that is banned for use in several states for being acutely toxic when ignited and inhaled.

Handling the strain gave Black a chemical burning sensation that persisted through the day, she says. Her reaction was visible on security camera footage from the store, which Black allowed a reporter to view but declined to share publicly.

“I touched it when I took a sample, and it felt like my fingertip was on fire,” Black said. “For it to test that high, the buds were probably sprayed at a later stage. That stuff is dangerous to be in the same room as, let alone handling or smoking it.”

Another strain dubbed “Cali Gold” also contained 608 micrograms of Paclobutrazol, over 50% higher than Maine’s legal limit. The chemical is often used to inhibit cannabis growth, reducing space needed for large plant yields, according to Nick Chamberlain, spokesperson for Portland cannabis testing facility Nova Labs.

“The intent of these kinds of chemicals is to keep a plant short and stubby, usually helpful when space and height is a concern,” Chamberlain wrote in an email. “This product would be applied through the early plant life cycle, seedling through to flower.”

Many grow houses are also using imported Chinese fumigants “not able to be obtained domestically” in several grow houses, prosecutors say, raising the possibility that the cannabis is treated with toxic, unlicensed chemicals.

It is unclear if such substances were used on the tainted cannabis offered to Black because they cannot be detected by standard chemical testing.

Applying any kind of chemical to cannabis is a risky endeavor because the plant absorbs and accumulates the chemicals in its environment throughout its growing process, according to Nick Chamberlain, spokesperson for Portland cannabis testing facility Nova Labs.

Those chemicals can also pose different and potentially fatal dangers once ignited and inhaled, he says.

“Not only are we talking about the health effects of the chemicals themselves but also any breakdown products that are formed when these compounds are vaporized or combusted,” Chamberlain said. “Cannabis can absorb, internally transport, and hold onto these kinds of chemicals.”

‘OCP IS ESPECIALLY CONCERNED’

Illegal or otherwise, both tainted cannabis and transactions between grow houses and medical dispensaries are nearly undetectable due to a lack of oversight in the state’s medical market, Maine cannabis regulators say.

Unlike the state’s adult-use market, which operates under a strict regulatory structure, Maine’s medical cannabis industry has largely been left to police itself, as the OCP provides little to no oversight on anything from toxic pesticide use in medical cannabis to sales of tainted product.

“OCP is especially concerned with the health risks that contaminated products pose to medically compromised patients,” Soucy said. “The office encourages medical program registrants to continue to refuse such transactions.”

The Maine Department of Conservation, Agriculture & Forestry’s Board of Pesticides Control “does not maintain a list of pesticides that are permitted or not permitted for use on cannabis,” the agency says, instead clearing all chemical products deemed safe for use on food as safe for use on cannabis.

An OCP report last year found nearly half of Maine’s medical cannabis contained unsafe levels of chemicals, mold and yeast.

Eagle-20, a common fungicide, was the most commonly found contaminant in the medical market. When ignited and inhaled, the chemical creates cyanide gas.

The fungicide is labeled for general use on food, ornamental plants and more, and as a result, it is entirely legal to apply any amount of Eagle-20 to medical cannabis under Maine regulations.

The chemical is among the most common found at raids of illegal grow houses, according to Andrew Lizotte, the assistant U.S. attorney who is leading the federal investigation into Maine’s illegal cannabis grow houses.

“Eagle-20 is available widely as an agricultural product. It’s used widely for crops to be dusted with, washed and then eaten,” Lizotte said. “You can essentially order it on Amazon.”

State cannabis officials and federal prosecutors worry that without proper regulations around chemical use and testing, tainted grow house weed will continue to quietly seep into Maine’s medical market.

Some industry advocates, however, argue that illicit growers should be welcomed into the medical market so they can be taught best practices for safely growing cannabis.

The Medical Marijuana Caregivers of Maine is a nonprofit advocacy group that represents medical cannabis patients, growers and manufacturers and has previously pushed back against proposals for stricter testing and tracking requirements in Maine’s medical cannabis industry.

In a statement, MMCM board chair Tammy Smith argued that licensing illegal growers “brings that operation into the light” and allows for state and local officials to regulate the grow houses.

She said the group opposes new chemical testing and inventory tracking requirements, arguing that caregivers “calling out” illicit growers is enough to stem the spread of gray market weed.

State statute leaves the OCP largely unable to prevent illicit growers from entering the legal market, regulators say.

The OCP can largely only deny applicants who have been imprisoned for one year or longer on drug-related charges, Soucy said. A federal court also ruled in 2022 it is unconstitutional for Maine to deny applicants for having out-of-state residences, as many illegal grow house operators do.

‘WHY I’M SPEAKING UP’

For consumers, growers and dispensaries alike, medical cannabis in Maine is often substantially cheaper than its recreational counterpart, in large part due to mandatory plant tracking, chemical testing requirements and higher taxes in the recreational program.

Unlike most other states, medical has always outsold recreational marijuana in Maine. Though the medical market raked in $280 million last year, the medical market is seeing “massive drops in wholesale price” due to oversupply, according to OCP director John Hudak.

Black, the Winthrop dispensary owner, worries an influx of inexpensive grow house weed could entice dispensaries and customers alike, as the sellers were offering pounds of cannabis for less than half the usual $1,200 to $1,800 per pound going rates from legal growers.

It would also have been nearly impossible to detect contaminants in the cannabis, Black says, if she hadn’t sent the samples in for chemical testing — an optional process for medical growers that can cost several hundred dollars.

Without stricter enforcement, however, individual sellers and dispensary owners like Black are the only ones able to keep toxic grow house weed from entering Maine’s legal markets.

“It was trimmed very nice, it didn’t smell like chemicals and it looked like very standard flower. For $600 a pound, had this stuff tested clean, I might have bought it,” Black said. “I mean, for half the market rate, I can see a lot of people buying it — and that’s why I’m speaking up.”

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