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Microbiological contaminants of marijuana J. M. McPartland

Vermont Alternative Medicine (excerpted)
53 Washington Street, Middlebury, VT 05753, USA.

Detecting contaminants in marijuana

Eliminating contaminants

Levitz and Diamond (1991) suggested baking marijuana in home ovens at 150o C, for five minutes before smoking. Oven treatment killed conidia of A. fumigatus, A. flavus and A. niger, and did not degrade the active component of marijuana, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC).

Conclusions

Many publications have described a variety of microorganisms resident on marijuana. Nevertheless, most researchers remain unaware of these hazards. Schwartz (1987) wonders if the source of a young patient's Curvularia lunata sinusitis could be from contaminated marijuana. Brummund et al. (1987) reply that this is possible, but no Curvularia species have been cited in the Cannabis literature. However, this was indeed reported by Babu et al. (1977). More recently, another Schwartz (1992) states, "I am unaware of any report of non-Aspergillus fungal contamination of marijuana cigarettes." The publications cited herein, provide such reports.

Carefully cultivated and harvested marijuana harbors a minimum of hazardous microorganisms. For added protection, material must be screened for contamination before it is packaged for use as medical marijuana. Since opportunistic infections pose the greatest danger to immunosuppressed consumers, marijuana should be sterilized, preferably by gamma irradiation. Lastly, consumers must be given careful instructions to ensure their marijuana does not become contaminated prior to use.