Desperation – you can smell & # 39; While Pot Stores Sell Untested Weeds :: WRAL.com



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By BRIAN MELLEY, Associated Press

LOS ANGELES – Basement Bud Bargain is on the California menu, but you must act quickly to cash on the cheap grbad.

The regulations put in place six months after the state's largely legalized marijuana requires that the pot sold after Saturday meet stringent quality standards, so retailers unloading the unexamined inventory offer prices of up to 30%. ;eruption.

Significant reductions on everything from edible to joints, reflect the last days of the first heady phase of the legal recreational pot. They could be followed by empty shelves that many stores scramble to replenish with properly tested and packaged products.

"You can feel it, there is some desperation from the stores that have bought too much and they have to empty it," said John Atari, CEO of Source Cannabis Farms, a licensed grower in Los Angeles. "There will be a big shortage of clean products from July 1st."

At the Firehaus, a store along a Los Angeles expressway, a kind of fire sale took place this month with a 50% sale of "summer sale" advertised on a popular marijuana application sent by SMS to regular customers.

Bosses leaving the brick showcase a recent day were happy to double their value, but were not aware of the reason behind the bargains.

Half a dozen people polled said they welcome tests to eliminate pesticides and contaminants such as solvents and molds, although they do not care much about the safety of cannabis. They have been using for years.

"I've been smoking marijuana for 40 years, which has not been tested at street vendors, and it smelled of everything from scented gasoline," said Catherine Lanzarotta, who filled up with "Blue Dream". & # 39; & # 39; So, I have never had this concern. "

The tests will also examine the concentrations and potency of the ingredient that gives users a buzz.

The rule change was part of the state's decision to allow the industry in its legal childhood to get off to a good start early in the year. The stores had six months to burn through the supply of grbad and biscuits and other products manufactured without strict testing requirements.

Any marijuana harvested this year or for sale on July 1st must meet quality and safety standards or be destroyed.

Prior to the legalization of recreational marijuana, the test of pot sold for medical purposes was largely made for commercialization. Producers could promote the power of their product or the fact that it was free of contaminants.

Robert Martin, co-founder and CEO of CW Analytical Laboratories in Oakland, said the new bulky rules are draconian, with a mandate to test heavy metals, which he deems unnecessary, and one to keep the samples tested. days. There are also requirements for what technicians must wear, and lab employees must take samples directly from suppliers.

"The new regulations have twisted us," Martin said. "We feel like we are trying to do yoga on two mats."

There are concerns that the 28 state-licensed test facilities will not be sufficient, although laboratories have said even with a spike in recent months, they have been able to handle capacity.

A more important concern is a delay in testing, as business owners have lagged behind in the implementation of the new rules. This could put them in a precarious position while they try to push the product through a limited pipeline to replenish the stores with clean grbad.

The fear is that there will be a repeat of what Oregon experienced two years ago while distributors were reluctant to materialize and delay the supply chain. .

The resulting bottleneck in the labs meant tests that should have taken days for weeks, said Lori Glauser, chief operating officer of EVIO Labs, which has offices. in California, Oregon, Colorado, Florida and Mbadachusetts.

Glauser said the recent wave of business she's experienced indicates a similar scenario in California that will lead to a temporary shortage of marijuana in the clinics once they can no longer sell non-prescription drugs. tested.

Some stores have been preparing for the new regulations by gradually replacing the pot that they sold with products that have pbaded the tests.

Jamie Garzot said she reopened her Shasta Lake medical marijuana store to recreational customers on Jan. 1 with the same untested inventory as the day before.

But in February, she estimated that about 15% of the 530 cannabis stocks had been approved by testing laboratories. In April, that climbed to around 50%, and earlier this month, Garzot said that she estimated that 95% of her products were accepted.

"Everyone in the game knew it was going to happen," she said. "My hope is that everyone has done their job by calling on systems for an uninterrupted supply chain."

Garzot waited until the bitter end before launching a "fire sale" with discounts ranging from 15 percent off all non-compliant products to 45 percent on Saturdays.

This means that Chem Dog, which normally sells for $ 10 per gram of loose flowers, will cost $ 5.50 at the end of the sale and that a pack of five pre-laminated flocks of FloraCal Farms that sells normally $ 45 will be as low as $ 24.75.

Anything – who has not pbaded the tests – has to leave.

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Find full marijuana AP coverage here: http://apnews.com/tag/LegalMarijuana

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