According to the California Growers Association, only an estimated 10 to 15 percent of the state’s cannabis growers will meet the new testing standards.

The passage of social cannabis under Proposition 64 in California directed the state to establish a certified organic designation and organic certification program which ensures all cannabis samples tested as pesticide free.

Steep Hill Labs, a Berkeley testing facility, detected pesticides in 84 percent of California cannabis samples. Eighty percent of flowers, edibles and concentrates sold at San Francisco’s HempCon were also tainted by pesticides, mold or harmful solvents.

State approved pesticide testing will cost growers close to $400 per pound, which is close to half of the estimated $800 to $1,200 per pound which commercial growers profit from their product.  

The state is still working out the final draft, but the regulations are estimated to allow products which are pure from pesticides to be exempt from federal registration requirements, like cinnamon, rosemary, peppermint oils, sulfur and iron phosphate