Over Reliance on Clones May Taint Cannabis

Since purity and potency testing of cannabis first become popular and now mandated, there has been a seemingly inexplicable increase in pesticides detected. Part of this is simply that cannabis has not traditionally been product tested, so there is no established baseline for comparison.

By: Chris Conrad | theleafonline.com

The Department of Agriculture has not listed any approved levels of any pesticides for use on cannabis, so producers are struggling to control pests and plant disease. In some cases, abuse of pesticides is significant enough to warrant being kept out of the supply stream.

Worse yet, in a very worrisome trend, the federal Environmental Protection Agency, headed by science-deniar Rick Perry, recently reversed course and approved a dangerous new pesticide, that was set to be banned, after its manufacturer, the Dow corporation, donated $1 million to Trump’s campaign. This suggests that political cronyism will trump public safety heading forward.

But is the cannabis supply really all that tainted? Many farmers are crying foul, however, as lab tests keep reporting trace pesticide levels. They say they are working hard to grow organic, so where are these contaminants coming from?

New evidence is emerging to suggest that there may be another force at work: Reliance on cannabis clones — cuttings taken from mother plants and rooted — instead of growing from seed. Whereas seeds carry genetic diversity that inevitably leads to variation, clones all have the identical characteristics as their mothers. That reliability has led clones to dominate the industry.

Continue reading this article at theleafonline.com

Don’t forget to sign up for an account and follow @yourweedtv

Facebook: www.facebook.com/yourweedtv

Twitter: twitter.com/yourweedtv

Instagram: instagram.com/yourweedtv