DA: 84% of illegal ‘black market’ cannabis in Monterey County fails compliance testing

Angelica Cabral, Salinas Californian
·2 min read

More than 80% of illegal cannabis seized by Monterey County law enforcement officers failed official laboratory testing due to contamination in 2021.

On Monday, District Attorney Jeannine Pacioni announced the results of the 2021 grant-funded illicit cannabis testing program. The program enables the Monterey County Cannabis Enforcement Unit to test cannabis at the same standards used to test licensed cannabis.

"The results drive home a simple point: If you buy and consume cannabis from the black market, there is a high likelihood you are ingesting contaminated cannabis," Pacioni said.

In 2020, Monterey County received $1 million as part of the Proposition 64 Public Health and Safety Grant program. Of that money, $200,000 goes toward laboratory compliance testing on illicit cannabis. Testing will continue through 2022 and 2023.

Prior to the grant, illegal cannabis was not being tested in the county for compliance standards.

The goal of the program is to provide “information on how much seized product would fail compliance testing" and to illustrate "to the public that purchasing illicit cannabis products is hazardous.”

The tested cannabis comes from illegal marijuana cultivation sites, or seized products that officers believe to be counterfeit or illegal, DA's officials said.

This year’s testing in Monterey County was done on 55 random samples. Here is a breakdown of the results:

  • 58% of the cannabis that failed was due in total or in part to water and mold activity;

  • 42% failed based on heavy metals;

  • 37% failed based on the presence of pesticides;

  • 10% failed based on microbial impurities like Salmonella.

In California, legal cannabis is tested for more than 100 contaminants, including pesticides, toxins and heavy metals before being sold. A 2020 study showed that the cost of compliance testing contributes $136 per pound to the cost of producing legal cannabis.

Monterey County Supervisor Chris Lopez said the legal cannabis industry has done a lot for the county during the pandemic.

“What we’ve been able to do here is create a very professional industry that works hand in glove with the county to make sure that everything that needs to happen to protect the public is done in a serious way and a way that’s completely transparent,” Lopez said.

Pacioni added that in order for the legal cannabis market to succeed, the illegal and unregulated market must be reduced.

“Illegal cannabis businesses have an unfair competitive advantage in the cannabis industry," she said. "They don’t pay taxes. They don’t pay for license fees or costs and they don’t test their cannabis products for consumer safety.”

Angelica Cabral is a journalist and podcaster for The Californian covering a wide variety of topics from movies filmed in Monterey County to how much political candidates have fundraised. Have a tip for an interesting story? Email her at acabral@gannett.com. You can also follow her on Twitter @avcabral97

This article originally appeared on Salinas Californian: Bulk of illegal cannabis fails lab testing in Monterey County in 2021