Pot Grower Disputes Claims Of Banned Pesticides
By Mark Ackerman
DENVER (CBS4) – A marijuana grower and dispensary owner is disputing claims that his businesses sold marijuana products with banned pesticides.
"We don't spray Eagle 20," said Larry Ruden, who owns the Tree of Wellness grow operation and dispensary with his wife Barbara. "But, I have a theory how it got there."
Eagle 20, with the active ingredient myclobutanil, is a fungicide that is used in agriculture, but is banned in Colorado marijuana products.
Ruden says Eagle 20 is so common -- he thinks the chemical might have been brought into his grow operation through his ventilation system from the air outside his facility on East 42nd Avenue in Denver.
He says the Colorado Department of Agriculture thoroughly tested his grow operation for pesticides in July and found myclobutanil on some leaves and trimmings in the vegetation room, but other samples of his spraying equipment and dried marijuana buds tested negative for pesticides.
LINK: Read The Agriculture Department Tests
On Friday, the Marijuana Enforcement Division sent out a public health and safety advisory about potentially unsafe pesticides found in Tree of Wellness products.
LINK: Read The Public Health And Safety Advisory
The State has placed an administrative hold on the plants that tested positive. The Tree of Wellness dispensary, located in Colorado Springs, has pulled the marijuana products in question off the shelves and has remained open.
"I will voluntarily destroy anything with a trace of pesticides," but Ruden thinks he should be permitted to sell the marijuana because the finished product tested negative. "All the pot sent to the store was 100% good."
He says a broker sold a small amount of the marijuana to at least one other Colorado dispensary.
The Marijuana Enforcement Division is investigating if other dispensaries may have sold the marijuana products in question.
For now, it is instructing anyone with marijuana to check the packaging for the license numbers 403-00664 and 402-00443 and the following dates:
Agent Orange 9.8.17
Blue Dream 10.16.17
Blue Dream 10.2.17
Blue Dream 4.8.17
Blue Dream 8.14.17
Blue Dream 9.1.17
Blue Dream 9.21.17
Blue Dream 9.8.17
Buddah Tahoe 7.1.17
Buddah Tahoe 8.14.17
Cali Orange 10.2.17
Cali Orange 5.23.17
Cali Orange 8.1.17
Celemntine 10.17.17
Chewbacca 10.17.17
Chewbacca 8.14.17
Chewbacca 9.8.17
Critical Mass 7.1.17
Critical Mass 9.1.17
Durban Poison 7.31.17
Durban Poison 8.14.17
Durban Poison 9.1.17
Durban Poison 9.27.17
Fluffhead 7.19.17
Fruity Pebbles 7.19.17
Fruity Pebbles 8.1.17
ICE 9.8.17
Lemon Diesel 3.23.17
Lemon Diesel 9.22.17
Lemon Diesel 9.8.17
Nightmare Cookies 7.19.17
Nightmare Cookies 9.8.17
Northern Lights 10.16.17
Northern Lights 10.2.17
Northern Lights 7.31.17
Northern Lights 8.14.17
Northern Lights 9.1.17
Pink Kush 7.19.17
Pink Kush 8.14.17
Pooty Tang 10.16.17
Pooty Tang 9.1.17
Pooty Tang 9.21.17
Pooty Tang 9.8.17
Purple Headband 10.2.17
Purple Headband 10.23.17
Purple Headband 9.1.17
Purple Headband 9.8.17
Purple Urkel 7.19.17
Purple Urkel 7.31.17
Purple Urkel 9.1.17
Purple VooDoo 7.31.17
Purple VooDoo 9.1.17
Purple VooDoo 9.21.17
Sour Kush 7.1.17
Sour Kush 9.1.17
White Bubba 10.16.17
White Bubba 7.31.17
White Bubba 9.22.17
White Bubba 9.8.17
XXX Diesel 10.16.17
XXX Diesel 10.2.17
XXX Diesel 8.14.17
XXX Diesel 9.8.17
Mark Ackerman is a Special Projects Producer at CBS4. Follow him on Twitter @ackermanmark
