Special thanks to Brannan and Sabah for the work they’re doing to change the stigma around cannabis!

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Truly clean cannabis

As you may already know by now, we go great lengths to grow the cleanest cannabis possible. That’s a bold statement because it is true. That isn’t to say there aren’t other growers out there who share our standards but the majority do not. The primary reason we prepackage our flower is because we want the patient to receive a clean, unaltered product. From the grow room to the dry room to the trim and packaging room all the way to the dispensary shelf and ultimately to the hands of the patient – we need to ensure our flowers aren’t contaminated.

Once, we visited a dispensary to talk about our products. As we approached the sales counter, a budtender with a trash bag full of flower was rolling joints without gloves, openly on the sales floor. To some this may be no big deal but to us this is a total deal breaker. We treat our flowers like food and think others should too.

On another occasion at a different dispensary, a budtender handed us a huge cvault to stick our nose into. What if we would have sneezed all over that flower? Yuck.

Bulk flower often is sold out of large jars, whether glass or Cvaults and those jars get reused once emptied. Something as simple as putting a new batch of flower in a previously contaminated jar that hadn’t been cleaned puts our name at risk.

Packaging preserves the best qualities of the plant

We opted for clear, glass child resistant jars because the static of plastic can pull away trichomes and the clear glass allows patients to view the product before purchasing. Each jar is tucked into a recycled kraft box to avoid light exposure which has been shown to degrade cannabinoids and terpenes over time.

“Exposure to light (not direct sunlight) was shown to be the greatest single factos in loss of cannabinoids.“ The stability of cannabis and its preparations on storage, J Pharm Pharmacol. 1976 Jan;28(1):1-7.

As mentioned before, we include 2- way Boveda humidity packs in each jar. Humidity packs are shown to preserve terpenes which are what provide aroma, flavor and research lends to believe; therapeutic effects of cannabis.

“The levels of terpenes and cannabinoids present in the buds protected with Boveda 62 were approximately 15% higher than the measured levels without Boveda 62 present at the end of 5 six weeks.” Boveda Terpene Study.

Effective inventory control for dispensaries

Any retailer will tell you shrinkage is a problem in the industry whether it is cannabis or clothing. According to 2019 National Retail Security Survey conducted by National Retail Federation, FY2018 shrink rates were 1.4%. This may not sound like a lot but assume a dispensary sells $500,000 a year, 1.4% of theft equates to $7,000 in lost product. It is much easier to account for missing product when it’s been weighed and packaged. It makes inventory counting and reporting much quicker and more accurate.

Fully compliant packaging for the dispensary and patient

Our products meet the ever-changing OMMA packaging requirements. We stay abreast of all packaging requirements which helps take a load off the dispensary having to do so. Even going so far as to include a QR code which links to our full laboratory reports. A patient once told me a dispensary refused to share lab results with her. That’s absurd! Obviously not all dispensaries operate in this manner and the good, honest shops are the ones who will prevail. Still, it’s important for us to ensure patients can easily access our entire lab reports, including the back page no one ever seems to show.

Prepackaged flower is a better value

When buying flower in bulk, growers typically sell the big and small buds along with the shake that falls off the flowers. Therefore the dispensaries are paying the same price for shake as they would for top buds. Unless the dispensary has a processing license, there’s nothing they can do with the leftover shake other than sell it at a discount, despite having paid a flower price for it.

As flower is sold from the grower to the dispensary, it is weighed. That weight changes over time as the flowers become dryer. When flower dries, it weighs less resulting in less volume for the dispensary to sell, further reducing the margin per gram. Humidity packs help to preserve the moisture levels, cannabinoids and terpenes which is why we include them in our jars.

At Flower Of Life we hand select our best flowers and weigh and package each jar by hand. We always fill a little over, rather than under, as any good budtender would do. We reserve all of the shake, trim and “popcorn” sized flowers and turn those into processed products.

Don’t be afraid to try prepackaged flower

Hopefully you’ll be willing to give prepackaged marijuana a try if you haven’t already. Most dispensaries carrying our product have a sample jar out for smelling, which is important for selecting a flower you like. Still not convinced about the benefits of prepackaged cannabis flower? Head on over to our Weedmaps brand page to read our reviews.

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Organic is a misleading term.

In the cannabis industry, the term “organic” gets thrown around quite often which can be very misleading for consumers since there is no federal USDA regulation for cannabis. However, cannabis is regulated by each state with its own set of rules. In Oklahoma growers must pass testing for 12 pesticides¹. In California that number is around 65 pesticides² and in Canada it’s nearly 100 different compounds³. Unscrupulous growers can easily skirt around the regulated testing for 12 pesticides by using any number of pesticides which aren’t on the lab tests. To put that into perspective, there is approximately 900 different active pesticide ingredients on the market in the US.⁴

Pesticides haven’t been registered for use on cannabis.

The problem with pesticides used on cannabis is that they haven’t been tested for use on cannabis or registered for use on cannabis by the EPA. The EPA establishes pesticide safety tolerances for amounts used, timing and frequency of use. Without studying the specific use application of the pesticide, how can we be sure it’s safe?

Unfortunately we don’t know what happens when most pesticides are heated or combusted, i.e. vaporized or lit on fire and smoked, as cannabis flower often is. A quick example of this is Myclobutanil (active ingredient in Eagle 20), a once popular and sometimes still used pesticide turns into cyanide gas when combusted! There’s simply a lack of science based evidence on the safety of pesticide use on cannabis. For that reason, we’ve made a commitment not to use any pesticides or synthetic inputs, ever.

What is a pesticide?

I recently made mention of fungicide being a pesticide on Instagram and someone disputed the statement. Let’s define what a pesticide is so there isn’t any confusion. OMMA defines a pesticide as:

“”Pesticide” means (A) any substance or mixture of substances intended for preventing, destroying, repelling, or mitigating any pest, or (B) any substance or mixture of substances intended for use as a plant regulator, defoliant or desiccant.” ⁵

Fungicides, insecticides, plant growth regulators, herbicides and rodenticides all fall under the umbrella of pesticides.

Organic doesn’t mean pesticide-free.

Organic pesticides are still pesticides. The difference between organic and conventional pesticides is that organic pesticides are derived from nature and conventional pesticides are synthetically produced. Just because something is from nature, doesn’t necessarily make it safe, especially when its use application hasn’t been studied. Here’s a couple of examples of side effects of commonly used organic pesticides:

Pyretherins, a naturally derived insecticide from chrysanthemums has been shown to affect reproduction and possibly cause cancer. ⁶

Copper Sulfate, a fungicide commonly used in organic farming, has been known to cause “Vineyard Sprayers Lung”, where farm workers develop lung disease from inhalation exposure.⁷

Creating awareness about pesticide use on cannabis.

Lots of medical marijuana packaging claims to be organic and pesticide free. But are they truly? We, the cannabis community, must hold growers and processors accountable to these claims.

My concern is that many medical marijuana patients don’t realize the types of chemicals applied to the cannabis they’re purchasing. Further, many patients likely have some type of pre-existing condition or may be immune compromised. My hope is to make patients more aware of what they’re purchasing so they can make informed decisions.

I also fully believe in voting with your wallet. If we want to see change in this industry, we have to demand cleaner cannabis options. Do you value pesticide-free cannabis? Let us know in the comments below.

Sources:

1, 3, 5 Oklahoma State Department of Health, Medical Marijuana Control Program

2 Bureau of Cannabis Control text Of Regulations

4 Children’s Health and the Environment WHO Training Package for the Health Sector, July 2008

6 Agency for Toxic Substance and Disease Registry, Public Health Statement for Pyrethrins and Pyrethroids

7 Pimentel JC, Marques F`Vineyard sprayer’s lung’: a new occupational disease Thorax 1969;24:678-688.

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Organic living soil is a sustainable, regenerative grow practice which focuses on dynamic and diverse soil, resulting in healthier plants. The goal of organic living soil is to feed the soil microbiology so that it in turn feeds the plants. Whereas conventional soil methodology is to feed the plant directly. Plants grown in conventional soil will often require additional nutrient supplementation to thrive. These additional inputs used in conventional growing could be made with organic matter or synthetic rock salts. With organic living soil, microbes living within the soil are constantly eating and digesting organic matter, providing readily available nutrients for the plants to flourish. A great way to think of this is like the human digestive system; where good gut bacteria and microbiome help us to thrive, healthy microbial activity in the soil helps plants to thrive. The soil is the “gut” of the plant.

What’s In Organic Living Soil?

At Flower of Life, we custom blend our own organic living soil. Combined with integrated pest management, it is the reason we are able to grow without the use of synthetic inputs such as pesticides, fungicides and herbicides. We’ve sourced approximately fifteen different amendments including; black owl bio char, mineral rich rock dusts, worm castings and Maine lobster compost. We use a commercial soil mixer to blend all of the amendments and one wheel barrow at a time, we load each of our fabric beds with the mixture. We allow the soil to “cook” for several weeks, watering it as needed to maintain the perfect moisture level. This cooking period promotes the growth of healthy bacteria and fungus, resulting in the “life” of the soil.

White clover flower

In addition to the soil, we use a cover crop mix from Build A Soil. Cover crops are beneficial to the soil by helping with

soil fertility, water availability, and increasing biodiversity to name a few. One of my favorite things about the cover crop is the beautiful flowers that pop up!

After each harvest, we don’t till up and throw out the soil or cover crop, rather, we plant the next round of crops in the same soil and that cycle continues on and on indefinitely. The soil is always reused and we adjust amendments accordingly based on our soil lab results or visual inspection of the plants.

Our primary focus is to grow truly clean, healthy plants without synthetic inputs or pesticides. We’ve created a small ecosystem where we could leave the plants unattended for days at a time and they’d be fine. Of course, we have no intentions of doing that!

Living Soil doesn’t imply pesticide-free

When Jeff first explained living soil to me a few years ago, I had a hard time wrapping my brain around this concept. I assumed all living soil growers didn’t use pesticides but I was wrong. Growing cannabis in organic living soil certainly makes it easier to grow without pesticides but just because a plant is grown in living soil does not make it pesticide-free. Living soil and pesticide-free are not mutually exclusive. It is possible to grow pesticide-free in other mediums and possible to grow in living soil with pesticides. There are numerous mediums for growing cannabis such as; hydroponically, rock wool, coco along with various soil methodologies. But we’ll save that for another post.

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What Does It Mean To Be Organic?

“Organic” is traditionally a term used by the USDA [United States Department of Agriculture] to certify the grow process of federally legal agricultural products. There are certain pesticides which have been approved for organic use on produce, here’s a list of those, however it’s important to note that each pesticide is approved for a specific use and must follow specific criteria. A chemical may be approved for use on some foods while restricted for use on others. Even so, 95 percent of the product must be grown completely naturally, without any additional additives, including those from the list of approved chemicals.

The EPA [Environmental Protection Agency] sets tolerances, regulating pesticide sales and uses for farmers; just not for the cannabis industry. This has left many cannabis growers without expert guidance on how to apply these substances. Not to mention, the research of these substances for cannabis application is greatly lacking. Because cannabis is federally illegal, the USDA and EPA aren’t regulating pesticide use on cannabis crops. The same “organic” pesticides used on produce hasn’t been tested or approved for use on cannabis. Given that cannabis is ingested in many forms – vapor, smoke and inhalation, orally digested – the pesticides should be tested for a specific crop and its specific end use.

How Do We Define “Organic” Cannabis?

“Organic” is a subjective term as it pertains to cannabis. Many consider organic to be anything grown without additional synthetic inputs such as; pesticides, insecticides, fungicides and fertilizers.Organic has to be the most misleading term used in the cannabis industry. Because there is no industry standard and very few regulations around how cannabis is grown, it leaves growers to their own accord. Often, many growers will choose the route which is easiest. In many cases, this is to grow cannabis plants using synthetic inputs.With education and a little forethought however, growing cannabis organically can actually be more cost-effective in the long run.

Pesticides Transferred Through Inhalation

According to this study by a cannabis testing company, Determination of Pesticide Residues in Cannabis Smoke, “chemical residues present on cannabis will directly transfer into the mainstream smoke and ultimately the end user.” The study was conducted using three methods of cannabis inhalation: a hand held glass pipe, an unfiltered water pipe, and a filtered water pipe. They concluded, “The effects of filtration have a significant impact on the total residues consumed,” however overall pesticide recovery was “alarmingly high”. In other words, a filtered smoking device can potentially limit the amount of pesticides ingested but overall pesticides are a health concern for cannabis consumers.

Concentrates Are Most Contaminated

THC concentrates used in vaporizers are an increasingly popular method of medicating but consumers should use caution. A study from the Cannabis Safety Institute, Pesticide Use On Cannabis, found that cannabis concentrates contain the highest levels of pesticides. “Inhaled chemicals are typically present at much higher levels in the body than those that are orally ingested. Research has shown that pesticides on Cannabis can be transferred into Cannabis smoke with efficiencies as high as 70%.”Per the same study, “pesticides can now be found on close to half of the Cannabis sold in Oregon dispensaries.” Meaning there’s a 1 in 2 chance you’ll wind up purchasing contaminated cannabis there.

How To Find Truly Organic Cannabis

This blog post barely begins to scratch the surface of the issue of pesticide-use on cannabis. I am hopeful more growers will turn to natural farming practices and more states will regulate the use of fungicides and pesticide on cannabis. Until then, you can start by asking your cannabis grower one simple question: What synthetic inputs do you use on your cannabis plants? If your grower responds with an answer other than “none” then they aren’t truly growing organically. Unfortunately, there is no industry standard for the term organic in cannabis farming but that doesn’t mean you can’t be a savvy patient or dispensary. Get to know your growers, form relationships with them, ask them questions and hold them to a higher standard.

Another article that you may be interested in:
Is there rat poison on your cannabis?
The Dirty Secret of California’s Cannabis: It’s Dirty,

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Understanding Potency

As a quick mention for those who may not know, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is the main psychoactive chemical found in cannabis. Cannabidiol (CBD), another canabinoind found in the plant, naturally helps to balance the psychoactive effects of THC. When there’s significant disparity between these two cannabinoids, the mental and physical effects of cannabis will be rather profound. Lower CBD levels combined with higher THC levels, leads to more intense psychoactive effects a.k.a the more stoned you’ll feel. Alternatively, strains with higher levels of CBD and lower levels of THC tend to produce less of a “stoned” feeling and more mellow highs so, the less THC, the less potent the “high” will be. With that said, let’s dive into the numbers to review THC/CBD ratios over time.

Is cannabis stronger than it used to be?

Yes, cannabis is probably stronger than it used to be According to one study, Changes in Cannabis Potency over the Last Two Decades, on average THC potency rose 8% from 1995 to 2014. The same study showed that while THC levels were climbing, CBD levels were falling. The approximate THC to CBD ratio in 1995 was 14:1 and in 2014 it was 80:1.

According to another study published by, National Center for Natural Products Research, cannabis potency has nearly doubled from 1998-2009. The highest percentage of THC the NCNPR found was 37.20%. A significant increase from the estimated 4% THC average in the 90s. One other factor to consider; cannabis research is severely lacking, and these numbers were produced by random samples taken from seizures and government agencies. Comparing cheap seed filled “ditch weed” to carefully grown “sensimellia” is not apples to apples.

Why the change in THC: CBD ratios?

It’s difficult to determine just how accurate this data could be. Growing conditions alone can affect the potency of cannabis by orders magnitude, not to mention the selective breeding that has been going on since medical cannabis became legal in California in the 1990’s. The longer cannabis sits and whether it’s exposed to air- also contribute to the potency. One theory is that the reason THC levels were so low in the past is that the cannabis had to travel rather far to make it to the states. During the 60s and 70s nearly half of cannabis consumed in the US was grown and shipped from Colombia. That long travel time likely played a role in reducing THC content.

We also know a lot more about breeding cannabis plants for specific effects, aromas, flavors, and potency levels. The science behind growing cannabis has grown exponentially since the 60’s, even since the 90s. Because the cannabis market has been driven primarily by the black market for the last 5 decades, the growers and breeders have been trying to meet that market’s demands: make it stronger. This has led to an arms race amongst breeders to create the highest THC content plants on earth, and because the plant only has a limited ability to produce cannabinoids, the push for more THC has diminished CBD levels in almost all the popular strains you will find available today. It is not uncommon to see something like this on a dispensary label: 26.5% THC 0.00% CBD.

How to select cannabis strains by THC/CBD ratio

Every patient is unique with varying medical needs and will respond differently. A general rule of thumb for selecting an appropriate THC/CBD ratio is to start with an equal 1:1. The idea here is to find a harmonious balance of two forces so you receive enough benefit of THC and CBD. Not enough THC and you may not get giggly, sleepy, euphoric or talkative-depending on the strain. Too little CBD and you may get way too much psychoactive effects, to the point where you’re uncomfortable.

For a balanced cannabis strain, give our Harle-ghost cannabis a try.

Dosing suggestions for beginners

First consider the method of consumption. Edibles produce a significantly more potent reaction in the body and require a much smaller dose. Please be very conservative and patient when consuming edibles, as the effects can take a few hours to appear. In Colorado the maximum THC limit in one edible dose is 0.5mg. Try half a serving size and wait to see how you feel.

One puff from a vape pen, pipe or pre-roll may be plenty. Start with one inhale and wait 15-20 minutes before determining if you need another. Remember, it’s easier to increase dosing than it is to retract it. Experts suggest if you’ve consumed too much, try drinking orange juice to raise your blood sugar.

Please note we are not in the business of providing medical advice and consider asking your physician for her recommendation. Every medical marijuana patient is different and will respond to cannabis differently.

What are your favorite balanced cannabis strains? Let us know in the comments below!

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