86% of California Cannabis Clones Contain Pesticides

A recent study by our buds over at Steep Hill Labs in Berkeley proves that a majority cannabis clones sold here in California are contaminated with pesticides—whether through direct use or via cross-contamination. Exactly how many clones are filled with pesticides? According to the “Study of Pesticides in Cannabis Plant Clones” only 14 percent of the 124 randomly selected clones that the firm tested showed no detectable pesticides—meaning that 86% of all clones here in California are contaminated.

“When we released the first study on pesticides in October of 2016, many growers approached Steep Hill saying that they did not use pesticides, they were organic, they were trying to do the right thing for their patients and consumers,”said Jmichaele Keller CEO of Steep Hill Labs, Inc. “After hearing this over and over again, we knew there was something wrong in the supply chain. It dawned on me, IT’S IN THE CLONES.

What’s worse? According to the study only 22.6% of the tested clones passed the current California Cannabis Regulations for Pesticide Thresholds in market ready cannabis. That’s a huge number of failures at the clone level—the very starting material that comprises a majority of California’s Cannabis supply chain.

“This data was the first revelation that there would be serious problems in the California Cannabis supply chain if the very starting material from which the Cannabis was being sourced for large scale production was already contaminated with pesticides that would fail current regulations,”reads the report.

The clones for the study were initially sourced by donations from Steep Hill clients. Soon they started soliciting clone donations from nearby their Berkeley, California location. But because there were too few donations the lab began purchasing clones directly from local producers and dispensaries. A total of 124 clones were analyzed sourced primarily from Northern California with a small number of samples (17 in total) sourced from Southern California. And according to the report the samples were not obtained in a statistically randomized fashion and the clone producers were unknown which means that the clone sample could potentially have originated from fewer common sources.

Solution? Grow your own weed starting from seed. Make sure you source high-quality seed genetics from a reputable breeder. We work with many individual breeders and a few very reputable online seed sellers. Also avoid using harmful pesticides and other system chemicals when growing.