Position

SUN GROWN CANNABIS ALLIANCE POLICY POSITIONS

The Sun Grown Cannabis Alliance (SGCA) is a coalition of outdoor growers in Massachusetts
who aim to increase consumer awareness of the differences between indoor and outdoor
grown cannabis, eliminate unnecessary restrictions on outdoor grows, and provide support,
education, and services to growers. Several changes that outdoor growers would like to see
are:

● Microbial levels for adult-use cannabis produced on outdoor farms should be increased and testing for “Total Viable Aerobic Bacteria (CFU/g)” and “Total Yeast and Mold (CFU/g)” should be eliminated.
● Soil and water testing requirements should be eliminated.
● Transferring without any pesticide testing should be allowed so that fresh frozen can be
harvested directly into a freezer truck and to allow for off-site drying.
● Autoflowers should not be required to have METRC tags.
● Excessive fines advantage larger MSOs who can absorb such costs and also have their own internal labs. Fines should be tailored to the size of the businesses that must shoulder them

Microbial Testing

Microbial testing limits are unnecessarily stringent. In many cases, outdoor growers cannot sell flower to retailers without undergoing irradiation, ozone treatment, or some other form of remediation, even though the cannabis presents no public health hazard.

The presence of some microbes, such as E. coli and salmonella may indicate improper handling or growing practices. Bile tolerant gram negative bacteria is often harmful if ingested. The SGCA does not object to tests for these contaminants.

However, tests for yeast, mold, and total viable bacteria are over broad and underinclusive. In many cases, these bacteria are naturally occurring and harmless. They may also be indicators of good farming practices such inoculation with indigenous microorganisms or the use of living soil. In fact, the Massachusetts Department of Agriculture allows for use of some pesticides that include organisms which would cause cannabis to fail CCC required testing. For example, BT NOW uses Bacillus thuringiensis ssp. kurstaki to control caterpillars.

The SGCA also recognizes that medical cannabis patients should have access to cannabis that is nearly sterile. For this reason, we support recent regulatory changes that allow for different microbial testing rules for medical cannabis versus adult-use cannabis.

For adult-use cannabis, microbial thresholds Microbial levels for adult-use cannabis produced on outdoor farms should be increased and testing for “Total Viable Aerobic Bacteria (CFU/g)” and “Total Yeast and Mold (CFU/g)” should be eliminated.

Soil and Water Testing

Soil

The high cost of unnecessary testing threatens to drive outdoor growers out of business. Under the current CCC Guidance for soil testing, a Tier 11 outdoor grower is required to spend $430,000 per year on soil and water testing. Not only are such costs untenable, but these tests have no discernible purpose given that the regulations require testing of the final products before they reach consumers.

CCC regulations require one sample per 100 square feet of beds. For 100,000 square feet, this is equal to 1,000 samples. At New England Labs, for example, the full panel soil test is $430. At Alpha Analytical, a full panel soil test costs $420.

Farmers are permitted to conduct composite sampling; regulations allow up to five samples to be combined for testing, but there is a catch. Aggregate samples must meet a more stringent threshold that is reduced proportionately, meaning that any composite sample must be below 20% of acceptable limits. Farmers who choose this route may save money, but they are taking a big risk. Soil that meets state limits for contaminants can fail testing even if it would pass regular testing, potentially costing them hundreds of thousands of dollars to remediate or replace soil that is actually safe for growing. Failed results can also lead to the CCC requiring that operations be ceased.

Water

Water testing is required once a quarter so costs are not prohibitive. However, testing standards require that water for outdoor cultivation meet drinking water standards. This requires cultivators to use well water instead of rain or surface water unless it is aggressively treated. This creates unnecessary costs for farmers, creates an unnecessary burden on the local water table or municipal water source, and has no discernable purpose.

Why is it necessary to test water for contaminants when the final product is also tested?

Transfers

Plants should not have to be tested for pesticide before transfer. A significant expense for outdoor growers is how to store frozen cannabis, since it can be cost prohibitive to build and run a walk-in freezer. At the same time, fresh-frozen may be the best way for outdoor farmers to generate revenue. To address this issue, some transporters offer freezer trucks to transport product.

Removing the pesticide testing requirement would allow outdoor farmers to harvest directly into a freezer truck, effectively opening the fresh frozen wholesale market to outdoor farmers. Alternatively, farmers could be required to take samples for pesticide testing and transfers could be permitted while testing is underway. Fresh-frozen cannabis could be quarantined once it arrives at its destination, and until test results confirm the cannabis is pesticide free.

Pesticide Testing and Fines

Outdoor growers face a higher possibility of accidental pesticide contamination due to drift from nearby farms.

Fines imposed for samples found with pesticide are excessive. SGCA is aware of one outdoor farmer who is facing $125,000 in fines for positive pesticide test results, even though there is no evidence that pesticide was used on the farm and no product ever reached consumers. Fines of this size can put small farmers out of business.

Excessive fines advantage larger MSOs who can absorb such costs and also have their own internal labs.

METRC Tags

Outdoor growers often cultivate autoflowers to generate an early crop. These plants flower early, and therefore remain small, often no more than a couple of feet tall or less. Putting Metrc tags on these plants weighs them down and damages them because they are not big enough to support the tag. Placing the tag in the ground does not work outside as it can be blown away.

Autoflowers should not require METRC tags.

For more information contact:
Matthew Gregg: matthew3g@gmail.com,
Dawn Duncan: dduncan7@gmail.com,
Matt Allen: matt@necraftcultivators.com