Marijuana contaminated with arsenic, lead or mold is causing serious, even life-threatening illnesses around the country as use of cannabis products explodes.

People who have used marijuana have higher levels of heavy metals in their blood and are more likely to develop fungal infections, according to studies. Researchers have linked contaminants found in marijuana to cases of sudden-onset numbness, fatal lung bleeding and artery disease that resulted in amputations.

Last year federal health authorities received thousands of reports of poisonings and other harmful side effects that involved marijuana use, while an Arizona dispensary issued a voluntary recall of cannabis products sold as “Grim Reefer” for possible contamination with a sometimes lethal fungus called Aspergillus.

Contamination is a particular concern for marijuana products because the plant is a bioaccumulator. That means it absorbs heavy metals in the soil and compounds such as pesticides sprayed on the plant, as well as fungal spores, including mold, that might be spread by air and water, especially during harvesting.

The cannabis plant is so successful at cleaning tainted soil that hemp was planted around the site of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster site.


Anne Hassel quit consuming marijuana because of the contaminant risk.
Anne Hassel said her feet went numb, her muscles twitched and she developed nausea and cramps several years ago, after using marijuana and working in a dispensary. Doctors eventually found she had high levels of lead, cadmium and nickel, she said.

“People consider that if it’s legal, it’s safe. It’s a complete fallacy,” said Hassel, 56, a physical therapist in Chicopee, Mass. She quit consuming marijuana because of the contaminant risk.

Marijuana use has jumped in the U.S.—and stores selling pot and edibles have proliferated—since 24 states legalized recreational marijuana and 38 approved the drug’s medicinal use.

‘Buyer Beware’
Yet regulation of the quality and safety of the products hasn’t been able to keep up. Federal regulators set product standards for cigarettes and minimum standards for growing and harvesting fruits and vegetables on farms. But there aren’t any national standards for testing marijuana for possible contaminants such as pesticides, solvents, fungi and bacteria. Nor is there a federal agency providing oversight.

State and local regulation, meantime, is a patchwork. Some states like California require producers to test for dozens of contaminants, while other jurisdictions don’t require any testing at all.

“It’s buyer beware,” said Kevin Sabet, a former White House Office of National Drug Control Policy adviser during the Clinton, Obama and George W. Bush administrations. “You don’t know what you’re getting.”

Growers say they are committed to selling safe products, and many would welcome federal standardized testing. Some express concern that increasing regulation could raise their costs and drive consumers to the black market, where no testing requirements exist.


California requires marijuana producers to test for dozens of contaminants, while other jurisdictions don’t require any testing at all. PHOTO: JEFF CHIU/ASSOCIATED PRESS
“They say pregnant women shouldn’t be smoking. They don’t ban cigarettes,” said Myron Chadowitz, a marijuana farmer in Veneta, Ore.

He opposed his state’s zero-tolerance requirement for certain types of Aspergillus mold, saying the mandate was too stringent and illnesses were rare. Yet he supports warning labels for people who are immunocompromised about the dangers of smoking marijuana.

Some doctors, scientists and health authorities have begun ringing alarm bells about the health risks from tainted marijuana. Studies have found cannabis users were 3½ times more likely to develop a fungal infection than individuals who didn’t use the drug and had higher levels of lead and cadmium in their blood and urine.



“It’s a horror story in some ways,” said Michelle Peace, a professor and forensic toxicologist at Virginia Commonwealth University. “The general belief is that if it’s on the store shelf it must be safe, but it’s hard for the consumer to know.”

Last year, U.S. poison control centers got 31,000 calls, about 1.5% of the total and more than double the count in 2019, and reports of 42 deaths mentioning at least one cannabinoid substance.

The Food and Drug Administration received more than 1,200 reports in 2023 of adverse events like agitation, rapid heart rate and headaches involving cannabis whole plant and flowering tops.

Some species of Aspergillus, a mold widespread in nature, can cause fatal bleeding in the lungs of immunocompromised marijuana smokers. Another species of a fungus called cryptococcus has been linked to a potential life threatening fungal infection of the tissues covering the brain and spinal cord in marijuana users.


Steph Sherer said she wound up with muscle weakness, racing heartbeat, and hives after eating some of a marijuana gummy. PHOTO: STEPH SHERER
Exposure to pesticides in cannabis products could lead to seizures and other neurological problems, while many heavy metals like arsenic are carcinogenic, according to researchers.

People with weakened immune systems are especially at risk from tainted products because they are less able to fend off diseases, such as lung and skin infections caused by types of fungi.

“I almost fainted. I started to call 911. That is not a normal reaction,” said Steph Sherer, of Washington, D.C., who said she wound up with muscle weakness, a racing heartbeat, and hives after eating some of a marijuana gummy last fall to help, in combination with a prescription drug, ease her pain following a surgery.

A push for more oversight
Sherer, who blames her unusual reaction on contamination, alerted city marijuana regulators and the dispensary. She heads a medical-marijuana advocacy group called Americans for Safe Access, and wants more consumer protections and oversight.

Some states such as Oregon and Colorado mandate testing for certain contaminants. But the growers in most cases pay the labs to conduct testing on their product, which safety advocates say is a conflict of interest.

“Honest labs in many markets could not get market share because they would not cheat,” said Donald Land, a chemistry professor at the University of California Davis who was chief scientific consultant at a firm that owned cannabis testing labs. The firm, Steep Hill, closed in 2023. “They are paid by the growers and growers who can decide what labs to go to. It’s so easy to cheat and get away with it if regulators aren’t on top of it.”

Some researchers and advocates are calling for the creation of a national office to oversee medical and recreational cannabis at Health and Human Services. They want more oversight from federal regulators, including standardized guidance, and more spot testing by states.

“There are a lot of state by state discrepancies,” said Maxwell Leung, an assistant professor at Arizona State University who serves on a state medical marijuana testing advisory council. “No one should be exposed to harmful levels of pesticide and contaminants in cannabis.”

Write to Stephanie Armour at Stephanie.Armour@wsj.com


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Growers say they are committed to selling safe products, and many would welcome federal standardized testing. Some express concern that increasing regulation could raise their costs and drive consumers to the black market, where no testing requirements exist.


California requires marijuana producers to test for dozens of contaminants, while other jurisdictions don’t require any testing at all. PHOTO: JEFF CHIU/ASSOCIATED PRESS
“They say pregnant women shouldn’t be smoking. They don’t ban cigarettes,” said Myron Chadowitz, a marijuana farmer in Veneta, Ore.


lle Peace, a professor and forensic toxicologist at Virginia Commonwealth University. “The general belief is that if it’s on the store shelf it must be safe, but it’s hard for the consumer to know.”



https://www.wsj.com/health/hea...5?mod=hp_featst_pos4

Same people that said we all need vaccine are saying this - zero credibility.

It's all about $$$ for another fed agency and WSJ is carrying their water.

warning is duly noted.

No offense but this post is a mess; the same information is repeated over and again. It’s interesting so you might want to clean it up or it’s too tedious to read.