Lawsuit Claims “All Natural” Insecticide Used On Organic Marijuana Is Anything But

We’ve come a long way from complaints that the weed you bought in the school parking lot was cut with oregano that fall on deaf ears (because really, you should know better): now that there’s a burgeoning legal marijuana industry in some states, consumer complaints and grievances can be aired in court. Like a lawsuit in Oregon that claims the makers of an “all natural” insecticide used on “organically grown” pot plants actually contains a chemical substance.

The complaint filed in Multnomah County Court claims that Guardian mite spray, which is advertised as an “all natural” product, contains ivermectin — a conventional pesticide in the avermectin family, Courthouse News reports.

The company listed the ingredients for the insecticide as “cinnamon oil, lemon grass oil, citric acid, yeast extract, sunflower lecithin, and water,” the complaint says.

But then in January, the paintiff saw a report from The Oregonian that said “a chemist with OG Analytical discovered the presence of abamectin (a type of avermectin) in cannabis samples submitted by growers who claimed they used organic growing methods. When one grower stated that he used only Guardian, the chemist tested Guardian and detected abamectin.”

The Oregon Department of Agriculture booted Guardian from its list of approved chemicals for marijuana growers. Avermectin can irritate the skin and eyes, interfere with the central nervous system and cause vomiting, tremors and other problems at high doses, according to the PesticideInfo.org database.

The Oregonian reported that a man who identified himself as the owner of the company that makes Guardian said it contains ivermectin, a chemical similar to abamectin. It isn’t listed on the product label as required, however.

The unidentified man told The Oregonian that “he did not realize the product label had to include all active ingredients.”

“We weren’t trying to pull anything,” he told the newspaper. “We put it in there, and it wasn’t on the label and that’s our fault.”

The plaintiff in this lawsuit is seeking class certification and damages for fraud, breach of warranty, negligent misrepresentation, unjust enrichment and unfair business practices.

Smoker Finds Insecticide in Organic Marijuana [Courthouse News]

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist