Like any produce, cannabis is a plant grown for human use and consumption, and can be created with harmful, toxic pesticides. Again, like any produce, to ensure a plant grown without the use of pesticides, but in a controlled environment that keeps out bugs and nasties… is pretty costly. Despite the cost, I am of the mindset that if you can afford to support the local, organic production of goods, including cannabis, it behooves us all to do so.
If you’ve been turned onto the organic revolution by hippie friends, or even tasted a friend’s home-grown heirloom tomato, you already know the difference in flavor strength in between plain, regular store-bought and that healthy, nontoxic soil. I believe the same is true for high’s – the effects are truer to the intended if the flower is organically grown, without the use of strong fertilizers and no pesticides. Many non-organic growers have been working to generate the most, and lower-grade-quality, flower, instead of the best.
It makes sense considering efficiency is king in the world of large, licensed production that creates more competition and lower prices for the consumer in general. This has started to topple the black market dominated by non-tax paying growers. There are smaller producers creating the higher quality stuff that hasn’t quite found a devoted customer base. For an already-costly plant to grow, creating the ideal, organic conditions can be hundreds of dollars more per pound than its nonorganic counterpart.
Have you ever considered that the reason you sometimes might get a weed headache isn’t due to the product being too strong, but could be the way the flower itself was farmed? Strange aftertastes? There have been pushes for stronger testing regulations in states like California and Colorado, and rightly so. Pesticides are carcinogens, caustic to our health with long-term exposure, and no one certainly wants to inhale lead or poison. Without a federal office, like the standard for tobacco and alcohol, marijuana can be easily grown for straight profit without heed to the effects on the consumer. It reminds me perfectly of the Parks and Recreation, where the Pawnee business board rep demanded the consumer be able to purchase a gallon of soda, as it was their right, not that it was best for them.
Perhaps it would be more expensive to enforce a set of laws where cannabis tastes better, provides a cleaner, stronger high, reaches the best product quality possible… but if these standards had been the base to begin with, we wouldn’t know any other way. Instead many companies are angling to become the Wal-Marts of cannabis, and there isn’t quite a Whole Foods yet, but the little up-and-coming organic growers deserve to be as supported as the dominating cheap megabrands. I know I rarely give a negative review, because I’m fortunate to get exposure to some wonderful strains, brands, and grows. As I age and appreciate better quality that means accepting I can’t always have as much of it, so for the sake of essentialism, health, and a willingness to increase the overall quality of your cannabis experience… show support for the brands that are doing it now!
