The Wild West of Marijuana Pesticides 大麻殺蟲劑在美國西部泛濫

文/布魯克·博雷爾 譯/韓寧 審訂/朱波

By Brooke Borel

Growing marijuana takesvigilance1 vigilance 警戒；警覺。,even when it’s legal.Like any crop,cannabis2 cannabis 印度大麻；大麻煙原料。plants are prone to pests and disease—from tiny leaf-sucking spider mites, which can spawn a new generation in less than a week, to powdery mildew, a fungus that forms a talcum-likecoating3 coating 涂層；覆蓋物。on leaves and spreads rapidly through greenhouses.For every other agricultural product, there is a relatively clear solution: Find a pesticide labeled for the specific plant or setting, and apply it according to the instructions.

種植大麻即便合法，仍需謹慎。像任何農作物一樣，大麻植物易受病蟲害侵害——從吮食葉子的細小蜘蛛螨到白粉菌，蜘蛛螨可以在不到一周的時間內繁衍出下一代，白粉菌則是一種可以在葉子上形成滑石粉膜并在溫室中快速蔓延的真菌。對其他任何一種農作物而言，都有一個比較明確的防治辦法：找到針對該作物或其生長環境的殺蟲劑，并參照說明使用。

[2]Not so with pot.Discrepancies between state and federal laws have left cannabis farmers without any pesticides approved for use on their crops—and as a result, some growers have taken the matter into their own hands, treating their plants with alarmingly high levels of pesticides intended for other uses.

[2]大麻卻是另外一回事。由于美國各州和聯邦法律之間的差異，大麻種植者無法得到特定的法定殺蟲劑。于是，一些農戶自想辦法，將其他用途的殺蟲劑拿來噴灑大麻作物，且用量驚人。

[3]Although recreational marijuana is now legal in four states and the District of Columbia, and medical use is allowed in 19 more, the drug is still illegal at the federal level:The Drug Enforcement Agency4 緝毒局，美國司法部下屬執法機構，主要任務是打擊境內非法毒品交易和使用。classifies it as a Schedule I substance, considered the most dangerous, along with ecstasy, heroin,LSD5 =lysergic acid diethylamide 麥角酸二乙基酰胺，一種強烈的半人工致幻劑。,methaqualone6 methaqualone 安眠酮，臨床上用于失眠癥，久用可成癮。(Quaaludes), andpeyote7 peyote 致幻劑。.As for pesticides, the Environmental Protection Agency is responsible for registering the labels that guide use across the country.These labels, which explicitly state how and where to use the products to minimize health risks, are legal contracts—states can’t allow the use of pesticides that aren’t approved at the federal level.Because of its Schedule I status, though, no label for marijuana exists, meaning cannabis farmers are left in agriculturallimbo8 limbo監獄；地獄的邊境。.

[3]雖然娛樂用大麻在4個州和哥倫比亞特區已合法化，在另外19個州大麻可作為藥品使用，但它在聯邦層面依然是非法品。美國緝毒局把它納入一類管制藥品，和搖頭丸、海洛因、麥角酸二乙基酰胺、安眠酮及致幻劑同屬最危險藥品。至于殺蟲劑，由環境保護署負責登記許可證，在全國范圍內指導使用。這些許可證就是法律合同，列明怎樣以及在何處使用相關產品可把健康威脅降到最低。各州不能使用那些在聯邦層面被禁的殺蟲劑。由于大麻屬于一類管制品，缺乏相關法定殺蟲劑文件，意味著種植戶陷入了無法可依的境地。

[4]Some states are creating their own lists of approved marijuana pesticides.For example, the departments of agriculture in Colorado and Washington,both of which have legalized recreational and medical marijuana, offer information on pesticides that mayskirt9 skirt 繞過；回避。the legal issues.Most of the products they name contain active ingredients that have low toxicity and are considered minimal risk, like petroleum oil, soap,and sulfur, making them exempt from EPA rules on pesticide residues.

[4]一些州自行創建了可使用的大麻殺蟲劑清單。比如，在科羅拉多和華盛頓這兩個州，大麻作為娛樂用品和藥品都是合法的，農業部門為農戶提供殺蟲劑信息，幫助他們規避相關法律問題。農業部門推薦的大多數產品（比如原油、肥皂和硫黃）都含有毒性較低的活性成分，風險已降到最低，不會違反環保署對農藥殘渣的規定。

[5]The trouble is, the low toxicity of these products means most of them aren’t powerful enough to protect plants from spider mites, powdery mildew, or other problems marijuana growers commonly face.“Some of thetolerance-exempt10 tolerance-exempt 缺乏抗性或藥力。pesticides have some efficacy, but if you have a severe infestation or outbreak these aren’t necessarily the products you would use,”says Erik Johansen, a policy assistant for registration services at the Washington State Department of Agriculture.

[5]問題是，這些產品的低毒性意味著它們中的大部分都不足以保護大麻免受蜘蛛螨、白粉菌或其他常見蟲害的侵害。華盛頓州農業部負責殺蟲劑登記注冊管理的政策助理埃里克·約翰森指出：“一些藥力弱的殺蟲劑是有一定效果的，但如果出現嚴重的蟲害或疫情，它們就不一定管用了。”

[6]Since more effective pesticides aren’t legally available, some growers have been sneaking in the use of stronger—and potentially harmful—chemicals.An investigation byThe Oregonianfound medical-marijuana products ondispensary11 dispensary 藥房。shelves that had allegedly tested clean for pesticides actually contained residues from household roach killer and other materials that shouldn’t be used on consumable crops.

[6]由于更有效的殺蟲劑不能合法獲取，一些種植戶一直在暗地里使用藥力更強也更危險的化學藥品。《俄勒岡報》的一項調查發現，藥房貨架上那些聲稱經測試未發現殺蟲劑的大麻藥品實際上含有家用除蟑劑和其他一些法定不得用于食用農產品的殺蟲劑殘留。

[7]Whether there are direct health consequences to growers and consumers is unknown because there is virtually no research on how pesticides may affect people working with or consuming marijuana.Usually, companies that make pesticides will contract with third-party labs to test their pesticides’ toxicity, and then hand the labs’ data to the EPA to get their labels approved.Because of cannabis’federal drug scheduling, going through that process with marijuana-specific pes-ticides would be anon-starter12 non-starter 無希望成功的人或事。.

[7]事實上，由于缺乏相關研究，我們尚不清楚殺蟲劑（殘渣）是否對大麻種植戶和消費者健康有直接影響。通常，生產殺蟲劑的公司會與第三方實驗室簽訂合同，測試產品毒性，然后將數據提交給環保署，從而得到銷售許可。因為大麻是聯邦管制品，大麻殺蟲劑幾乎不可能通過這種方式獲得銷售資格。

[8]According to Dave Stone, a pesticide toxicologist at Oregon State University and director of the National Pesticide Information Center, the toxicity of a pesticide depends both on its residue levels and how it is ingested.With pot, the high levels of pesticides in edible products could pose health problems, he says, but at least with ingested materials, the liver provides some protection.

[8]俄勒岡州立大學殺蟲劑毒理學家、國家殺蟲劑信息中心主任戴夫·斯通認為，殺蟲劑的危害不僅取決于其殘留量，還與攝入方式有關。他表示，可食用大麻產品中過高的蟲劑殘渣可能危害健康，但就攝入物而言，肝臟至少可以提供一些保護。

[9]But forgoing pesticides completely could pose other health problems.While pests like spider mites are mostly a threat for economic reasons, molds and bacteria can contaminate cannabis plants, too, and those microbes can be harmful to consumers.This is especially the case for medical-marijuana patients withcompromised13 compromised 妥協的；缺乏抵抗力的。immune systems,who could getsecondary infections14 secondary infection 繼發性感染；二次感染。by inhalingpathogens15 pathogen 病原體；病原菌。.“If we’re going to have medical-marijuana programs,mold and mildew and microbes need to be part of that discussion,”Stone says.

[9]但是，完全棄用殺蟲劑可能會導致其他健康問題。蜘蛛螨之類的蟲害威脅主要會造成經濟損失，而霉菌和細菌這些微生物不僅會感染大麻植物，對消費者身體也有害。尤其對那些免疫系統受損、依賴大麻藥品的病人而言，有可能因為吸入病原體而引發二次感染。斯通說：“如果要在治療中使用大麻藥品，就必須考慮霉菌、白粉菌和其他微生物可能帶來的問題。”

[10]As more states move towards legalization, the lack of oversight on cannabis pesticides will likely affect a growing number of consumers.But so long as federal lawsdeter16 deter制止；阻止。industry and academia from working with marijuana,the problem will likely remain one without a solution.

[10]隨著越來越多的州試圖讓大麻合法化，缺乏對大麻殺蟲劑的監管將可能影響越來越多的消費者。但是，只要聯邦法律阻止產業和學界開展相關工作，這一問題就可能繼續存在，無法解決。