Should cannabis remediated with radiation be labeled?

Maine’s cannabis industry is facing scrutiny as more growers turn to radiation to remediate moldy products.

But though irradiation is standard across the cannabis industry and in other sectors, it’s a practice consumers are largely unaware of due to lax enforcement and labeling requirements, according to the Portland Press Herald.

In Maine, state regulations mandate that cannabis treated with remediation methods such as radiation or ozone must be labeled accordingly, the Herald reported.

But Maine’s Office of Cannabis Policy has not enforced the rule since late 2024, agency Director John Hudak wrote in testimony last year.

Is radiation a safe solution for moldy cannabis?

One standard solution for cannabis products to meet state standards for contaminants like bacteria, mold and yeast is irradiation: gamma rays zapping cannabis flower with the radioactive element cobalt 60.

State-regulated cannabis often has been blasted by gamma radiation for hours.

But, as MJBizDaily has reported, most cannabis cultivators don’t want the public to know their product has been zapped.

That’s also true in Maine.

Why don’t cannabis cultivators want the public to know about radiation?

According to Hudak’s testimony, the state OCP received pushback from cultivators “who did not want to label their cannabis if they ‘treated’ their cannabis with radiation or ozone prior to submitting the cannabis for mandatory testing,” the Press Herald reported.

While proponents say the process is safe and reduces waste, skeptics question its efficacy and impact on product quality.

Yasha Kahn, co-founder of cannabis testing facility MCR Labs, told the Press Herald that irradiation doesn’t always eliminate harmful microbes.

“Certain molds can survive remediation or remain dormant, potentially resurfacing months later,” he told the newspaper.

However, the status quo may not last.

According to the newspaper, OCP deputy director of operations Vern Malloch told a licensed cannabis grower that the current policy of “not requiring labeling of remediated or treated product” could change soon.

Should irradiated cannabis be labeled?

Some industry operators believe irradiation contributes to the industry’s contamination problem.

According to the Press Herald, organic cannabis farmer Lizzy Hayes said the availability of remediation methods disincentivizes growers from producing clean cannabis.

When you have a regulatory system that incentivizes irradiation, it’s also making it so that customers don’t have access to as high quality of a product,” she told the papers.

Hayes also criticized the state’s testing protocols, which detect mold presence but don’t differentiate between harmful and benign strains, prompting many growers to irradiate their harvests rather than risk failing a test.

The debate over labeling irradiated cannabis reached the Maine legislature last year, with a proposed bill to enforce disclosure and inspect remediation equipment.

The bill was defeated after growers argued that labeling could mislead consumers into believing the products were unsafe, the newspaper reported.