Is it Poison?

Marijuana Flower - fotovincek/Depositphotos

New Atlas has a story about the dangers of smoking marijuana:

“Cannabis consumed in combustive form represents the greatest danger to human health, as analysis of heavy metals in the smoke of cannabis revealed the presence of selenium, mercury, cadmium, lead, chromium, nickel and arsenic,” explains Louis Bengyella, an author on the new study. “It is disturbing to realize that the cannabis products being used by consumers, especially cancer patients, may be causing unnecessary harm to their bodies.”

My first reaction:

'revealed the presence'. Bah. That could mean anything.

Testing the ground or the plants is probably a good idea, but you know that bureaucracies can be inept. Some of them seem to run smoothly, but some of them just mangle whatever they are supposed to be watching. Given the way some states are run, more bureaucratic bullshit is just going to drive more cannabis producers into the underground market. Only the rich will be able to afford weed that has been tested and approved. Just another example of class warfare.

My second reaction:

Christ on a crutch, this smells like first class bullshit, the same kind of crap that is being produced to keep everyone in a panic about COVID-19.  'Analysis revealed the presence'. Criminently, everything is everywhere. You could probably detect the 'presence' of plutonium in your breakfast cereal. 'Presence' means nothing. What you want to know is how substantial that presence is. 'Causing unnecessary harm' is another great phrase. Everything causes harm. Every breath you take subtracts another second from your life expectancy, so stop breathing already, it's killing you. Perhaps I am overstating my case, but this kind of crap really irritates me.

One thing leads to another and we get this story from California:

"Leading California cannabis companies warned Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday that the state’s legal industry was on the verge of collapse and needed immediate tax cuts and a rapid expansion of retail outlets to steady the shaky marketplace...

The letter signed by more than two dozen executives, industry officials and legalization advocates followed years of complaints that the heavily taxed and regulated industry was unable to compete with the widespread illegal economy, where consumer prices are far lower and sales are double or triple the legal business."

Via Chuck E. & Indy Tom