Nine months after Oregon issued the toughest rules in the nation to keep pesticide-tainted marijuana off store shelves, the state acknowledges that some contaminated products continue to reach consumers.
The admission underscores the tricky work of effectively regulating a plant long tied to illegal pesticide use.
Oregon, like other states with legal marijuana, wrote its own rules to crack down on pesticides in cannabis production. But it has faced a backlash from parts of the state's nearly $320 million industry over the expense and inefficiency of the requirements and the inconsistency of the results.
RELATED: Medical Marijuana Sales In Oregon Plummeting as Recreational Sales Increase
Though the state has authority to do random tests on marijuana sold at shops, regulators so far haven't done that. The Oregonian/OregonLive decided to conduct a spot check to see if Oregon's pesticide rules have led to clean cannabis.
