I approach clean cannabis in the same way I consider organic food. Both are products grown from the earth, harvested, processed, and distributed for human consumption. I’ll admit that I don’t always buy organic at the grocery store. That’s a luxury that not everyone can afford.
As a conscious consumer, I try to make deliberate purchasing decisions that have a positive social, economic, and environmental impact that also fit into my budget. Like most, I make decisions based on price, values, and alternate available options. I have a hard time spending $16/dozen for local, pasture-raised eggs when there’s a $6/dozen free-range alternative.
Choosing which cannabis products to buy is not all that different from deciding whether to buy strawberries from the local farmer’s market, organic ones from Whole Foods, Driscoll’s brand at the grocery store, or the box of strawberries from the dude on the street corner.
In this Guide to Choosing Clean Cannabis, I’ll share information to help inform your decision-making about the weed products you consume.
Vol. 5.5 // In This Issue:
What is “Clean Cannabis?”
Keywords + Terms
Questions to Ask the Budtender
*Disclaimer: Cannabis is not federally regulated, the rules and regulations vary by state and state agencies. The terms and terminology defined here that can be found on cannabis product packaging are not regulated by a single government entity. Even within the industry there is controversy about defining clean and the terminology is constantly changing. This is by no means a comprehensive guide, it’s a starting point to help guide your cannabis journey. The information contained in this post are my opinions at the time of publishing.
What is Clean Cannabis?
Cannabis and cannabis products that are produced without the use of any chemicals or pesticides, using only all natural ingredients, and grown in ways that regenerate the earth.
Just like that idyllic $16 carton of pasture-raised eggs laid by happy chickens, these are the ideal attributes I look for when choosing clean cannabis:
Sun-grown in natural living soil without pesticides
Made using a chemical-free process
Whole plant infused
Organic-ish Certifications
It’s complicated. Currently, there is no official Organic certification for cannabis because it is a still a Schedule 1 substance, so it cannot be labeled as USDA Organic on packaging even if organic methods were used. In 2021, the California Department of Food & Agriculture established the OCal Cannabis Certification Program that certifies products bearing the seal are comparable to the national Organic program.
ADDITIONAL CERTIFICATIONS: Similar to Leaping Bunny for cosmetics, there are cannabis-specific programs like Clean Green and Sun + Earth Certified that provide a certified seal and stamp of approval brands can put on their packaging if they meet a certain set of criteria and pay to participate. Sephora created its own set of clean standards for its CBD beauty products.
Keep in mind, just like small farmers at your local farmer’s market, the price to participate in these certification programs for the right to use the certification seal on packaging can be cost prohibitive to small businesses. So not every brand that qualifies will participate in these private certification programs.
Complicated? I know. It’s the wild wild west out here.
Keywords + Terms to Look For, and What Do They Mean?
This glossary of terms defines and explains the terminology found on cannabis packaging and marketing materials.
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