According to a report from the Colorado state Marijuana Enforcement Division, just under 15% of the state’s commercial marijuana flower had failed microbial testing in Colorado in 2019.
A big concern for the recreational marijuana industry has been the plant containing mold and yeast and supplanting banned pesticides.
If a marijuana sample fails contaminant testing, the entire batch is put under quarantine, after which it is either retested, remediated for extraction or destroyed.
According to preliminary results of an assessment of inventories at Denver dispensaries by the Department of Public Health and Environment, mold and yeast can still appear on marijuana plant matter even after a successful test.
Marijuana concentrates tested at a much safer rate, with over 98 percent of samples passing microbial testing and almost 95 percent passing residual solvent testing in 2019.
These microbial results had been part of a larger report released May 1st. This report also showed that marijuana users are buying less regular weed (flower, shake and trim) and more concentrates and edibles.
The sales volumes for concentrates and edibles from 2018 to 2019 increased 32 percent and 11 percent, respectively, while flower sales dropped almost 20 percent.
