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Pesticides, other contaminants found in many samples of Maine medical marijuana

FILE - In this Dec. 13, 2017, file photo, a marijuana plant grows under artificial light at an indoor facility in Portland, Maine. State officials have deemed dozens of applications to run marijuana businesses to be complete, a major step on the way to the first legal sales of the drug for adult use. Mainers voted in favor of legal recreational marijuana use and sales in 2016.
Robert F. Bukaty
/
AP
FILE - In this Dec. 13, 2017, file photo, a marijuana plant grows under artificial light at an indoor facility in Portland, Maine.

Two studies have found contaminants in a high percentage of medical cannabis samples in Maine.

Vern Malloch of the state's Office of Cannabis Policy says 127 samples were tested recently, and 45% failed for yeast, mold, and pesticides.

"It's alarming because, A, that it's so high," says Malloch. "And B, I think it's alarming because folks don't know. And I think folks assume that what they're buying from a regulated market is tested and is free of contamination like this, and it's simply not the case."

Another study by Nova Analytic Labs found 20% of 1,400 samples failed for pesticides. Lab officials say the actual rate is likely higher because the testing was voluntary.

Unlike the state's adult-use market, there is no mandated testing for medical cannabis. Officials with Maine's Office of Cannabis Policy say the Legislature should give them the authority to require testing and tracking.