Uncle Ike’s looks to ensure marijuana products are safe and contaminant-free
In an effort to ensure the marijuana products available to consumers are safe, one of the busiest dispensary chains in Seattle has begun to test its inventory. Uncle Ike’s, which operates three dispensaries in the city, has announced that it will randomly choose five products each month to test, as part of its new “Ike’s OK” program. The goal is to ensure that the products are free from contaminants, including pesticides.
All products in Washington are already subject to mandatory testing. However, products aren’t tested for certain things, such as pesticides. Recent tests conducted by the Washington State Department of Agriculture found that over 43% of the products tested contained either pesticide levels that exceeded state limits, or pesticides that have been completely banned.
Uncle Ike’s has already selected the first five products it will test – Death Star by Boggy Boon, Sour Tsunami Concentrate Tanker by Oil Tycoon, Grape Ape by Artisan, Midnight by Tijun Olam and Do-Si-Dos by Royal Tree Gardens. The company plans to only test products that can be inhaled, for now, and all testing will be paid for by Uncle Ike’s.
According to journalist Tobias Coughlin-Bogue, a cannabis industry watchdog, the process should cost under $2,000. He asserts, “It’s not insanely expensive and it’s something that every single store can do and every single store should do.”
Any product that fails the tests will be removed from the store’s shelves. The results will also be published on the Uncle Ike’s website so that consumers will always have the information available.
