John Schroyer
Oregon cannabis authorities changed course on a mold testing requirement for commercial marijuana after a court last month put a 180-day pause on rules established by regulators earlier this year that led to several cannabis product recalls due to testing failures.
The Oregon Health Authority as of Sept. 8 had suspended its requirement that all cannabis sold to consumers be tested for aspergillus, after the Oregon Court of Appeals sided with marijuana industry interests who sued the state over the rule, Jefferson Public Radio reported.
Cannabis businesses claimed in their lawsuit that the testing requirement went too far and that aspergillus isn’t necessarily harmful to humans.
There are not yet any documented cases of aspergillus connected to cannabis use, Jefferson Public Radio reported, and the Centers for Disease Control has found that many people breathe in aspergillus spores every day.
Those with weakened immune systems may develop fungal infections from exposure to aspergillus spores, and a 2016 CDC study found that fungal infections are more common among marijuana users – but that wasn’t sufficient cause for the Court of Appeals to side with regulators.
The requirement, businesses argued, is onerous, expensive, and unnecessary.
The OHA, however, argued that 16 other states have similar testing policies in place, with an arguably minimal impact to businesses.
“While some producers will be required to change their methods to avoid mold contamination of their product and may, in the short term, be required to sell their harvest for less lucrative uses, the impact on the industry as a whole is highly exaggerated,” stated a court filing on behalf of the OHA.
The question is still not fully settled, but until it is, recalled cannabis products are not yet allowed to be sold commercially. The OHA is currently working on temporary marijuana industry rules as a stopgap, Jefferson Public Radio reported.
One comment
brendan
September 20, 2023 at 10:19 am
A quick pubmed search to support your claims would be important. Listed below are cases directly linked to cannabis use. This does not include the ICD10 codes / insurance records that demonstrated cannabis users are at a much high prevalence of aspergillosis than other patients.
Clinical Cases of Aspergillosis species (A. flavus, A. fumigatus, A. niger, and A. terreus)
1. M.J. Chusid, J.A. Gelfand, C. Nutter, and A.S. Fauci, Letter: Pulmonary aspergillosis,
inhalation of contaminated marijuana smoke, chronic granulomatous disease. Annals of
Internal Medicine 82(5), 682-683 (1975). https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1094876/
2. R. Llamas, D.R. Hart, and N.S. Schneider, Allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis
associated with smoking moldy marihuana. Chest 73 (6), 871-872 (1978).
https://journal.chestnet.org/article/S0012-3692(16)61841-X/pdf
3. S. Sutton, B.L.Lum, and F.M. Torti, Possible risk of invasive aspergillosis with marijuana
use during chemotherapy for small cell lung cancer. Drug Intelligence & Clinical
Pharmacy 20(4), 289–291 (1986).
4. R. Hamadeh, A. Ardehali, R.M. Locksley, and M.K. York, Fatal Aspergillosis associated
with smoking contaminated marijuana in a marrow transplant recipient. Chest 94(2),
432–433 (1988).
5. D.W. Denning, S.E. Follansbee, M. Scolaro, S. Norris, H. Edelstein, and D.A. Stevens,
Pulmonary aspergillosis in the Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome. The New England
Journal of Medicine 324(10), 652–664 (1991).
6. W.H. Marks, L. Florence, J. Lieberman, P. Chapman, D. Howard, and P. Roberts, et. al.,
Successfully treated invasive pulmonary aspergillosis associated with smoking marijuana
in a renal transplant recipient. Transplantation 61(12), 1771–1774 (1996).
7. M. Szyper-Kravitz, R. Lang, Y. Manor, and M. Lahav, Early invasive pulmonary
aspergillosis in a Leukemia patient linked to Aspergillus contaminated marijuana
smoking. Leukemia & Lymphoma 42(6), 1433–1437 (2001).
8. R. Ruchlemer, M. Amit-Kohn, and D. Raveh, et. al., Inhaled medicinal cannabis and the
immunocompromised patient. Support Care Cancer 23(3), 819–822 (2015).
9. D.W. Cescon, A.V. Page, S. Richardson, M.J. Moore, S. Boerner, and W.L., Invasive
pulmonary aspergillosis with marijuana use in a man with colorectal cancer. Journal of
Clinical oncology. 26(13), 2214–2215 (2008).
10. A. Bal, A.N. Agarwal, A. Das, S. Vikas, and S.C. Varma, Chronic necrotising pulmonary
aspergillosis
in a marijuana addict: a new cause of amyloidosis. Pathology 42(2), 197–200 (2010).
11. Y. Gargani, P. Bishop, and D.W. Denning, Too many moldy joints – marijuana and
chronic pulmonary aspergillosis. Mediterranean Journal of Hematology and Infectious
Diseases 3, 2035-3006. Open Journal System (2011).
12. S.L. Kagen, M.D. Viswanath, P. Kurup, P.G. Sohnie, and J.N. Fink, Marijuana smoking
& fungal sensitization. The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology 71(4), 389–393
(1983).
13. S.L. Kagen, Aspergillus: An inhalable contaminant of marihuana. The New England
Journal of Medicine 304(8), 483–484 (1981).
14. J.L. Pauly and G. Paszkiewicz, Cigarette Smoke, Bacteria, Mold, Microbial Toxins, and
Chronic Lung Inflammation. Journal of Oncology 819129, 1-13 (2011).
15. T. L. Remington, J. Fuller, and I. Chiu. Chronic necrotizing pulmonary aspergillosis in a
patient with diabetes and marijuana use. Canadian Medical Association Journal 187
(17), 1305-1308 (2015) DOI: https://doi.org/10.1503/cmaj.141412
16. D. Vethanayagam, E. Saad, and J. Yehya, Aspergillosis spores and medical marijuana.
Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ) Letters 188(3), 217 (2016).
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4754188/pdf/1880217a.pdf
17. S. M. Levitz, R. D Diamond, Aspergillosis and marijuana. Annals of Internal Medicine
115(7), 578-579 (1991).
https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/epdf/10.7326/0003-4819-115-7-578_2
18. B. R. Waisglass, Aspergillosis spores and medical marijuana. Canadian Medical
Association Journal (CMAJ) Letters 187(14), 1077 (2015).
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4592303/pdf/1871077.pdf
19. E. Faccioli, F. Pezzuto, A. D. Amore, F. Lunardi, C. Giraudo, M. Mammana, M.
Schiavon, A. Cirnelli, M. Loy, F. Calabrese, and F. Rea, Fatal Early-Onset Aspergillosis
in a Recipient Receiving Lungs From a Marijuana-Smoking Donor: A Word of Caution.
Transplant International 35 (2022).
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8883434/pdf/ti-35-10070.pdf
20. A. P, Salam and A. L. Pozniak, Disseminated aspergillosis in an HIV-positive cannabis
user taking steroid treatment. The Lancet Infectious Diseases 17(8), 882 (2017).
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3099(17)30438-3/fulltext
21. T. E. Johnson, R. R. Casiano, J. W. Kronish, D. T. Tse, M. Meldrum, and W. Chang,
Sino-orbital aspergillosis in acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. JAMA
Ophthalmology 117(1), 57-64 (1999).
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamaophthalmology/fullarticle/411373
22. K. Benedict, G. R. Thompson, and B. R. Jackson, Cannabis Use and Fungal Infections in
a Commercially Insured Population, United States, 2016. Emerging Infectious Diseases
26(6), 1308-1310 (2020). https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/26/6/19-1570_article
23. M. I. Shafi, S. Liaquat, and D. Auckley, Up in smoke: An unusual case of diffuse alveolar
hemorrhage from marijuana. Respiratory Medicine Case Reports 25, 22-24 (2018).
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S221300711830008X?via%3Dihub