The Wild West of Marijuana Pesticides 大麻杀虫剂在美国西部泛滥

文/布鲁克·博雷尔 译/韩宁 审订/朱波

By Brooke Borel

Growing marijuana takesvigilance1 vigilance 警戒；警觉。,even when it’s legal.Like any crop,cannabis2 cannabis 印度大麻；大麻烟原料。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 涂层；覆盖物。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.

种植大麻即便合法，仍需谨慎。像任何农作物一样，大麻植物易受病虫害侵害——从吮食叶子的细小蜘蛛螨到白粉菌，蜘蛛螨可以在不到一周的时间内繁衍出下一代，白粉菌则是一种可以在叶子上形成滑石粉膜并在温室中快速蔓延的真菌。对其他任何一种农作物而言，都有一个比较明确的防治办法：找到针对该作物或其生长环境的杀虫剂，并参照说明使用。

[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]大麻却是另外一回事。由于美国各州和联邦法律之间的差异，大麻种植者无法得到特定的法定杀虫剂。于是，一些农户自想办法，将其他用途的杀虫剂拿来喷洒大麻作物，且用量惊人。

[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 缉毒局，美国司法部下属执法机构，主要任务是打击境内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 麦角酸二乙基酰胺，一种强烈的半人工致幻剂。,methaqualone6 methaqualone 安眠酮，临床上用于失眠症，久用可成瘾。(Quaaludes), andpeyote7 peyote 致幻剂。.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监狱；地狱的边境。.

[3]虽然娱乐用大麻在4个州和哥伦比亚特区已合法化，在另外19个州大麻可作为药品使用，但它在联邦层面依然是非法品。美国缉毒局把它纳入一类管制药品，和摇头丸、海洛因、麦角酸二乙基酰胺、安眠酮及致幻剂同属最危险药品。至于杀虫剂，由环境保护署负责登记许可证，在全国范围内指导使用。这些许可证就是法律合同，列明怎样以及在何处使用相关产品可把健康威胁降到最低。各州不能使用那些在联邦层面被禁的杀虫剂。由于大麻属于一类管制品，缺乏相关法定杀虫剂文件，意味着种植户陷入了无法可依的境地。

[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 绕过；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]一些州自行创建了可使用的大麻杀虫剂清单。比如，在科罗拉多和华盛顿这两个州，大麻作为娱乐用品和药品都是合法的，农业部门为农户提供杀虫剂信息，帮助他们规避相关法律问题。农业部门推荐的大多数产品（比如原油、肥皂和硫黄）都含有毒性较低的活性成分，风险已降到最低，不会违反环保署对农药残渣的规定。

[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 缺乏抗性或药力。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]问题是，这些产品的低毒性意味着它们中的大部分都不足以保护大麻免受蜘蛛螨、白粉菌或其他常见虫害的侵害。华盛顿州农业部负责杀虫剂登记注册管理的政策助理埃里克·约翰森指出：“一些药力弱的杀虫剂是有一定效果的，但如果出现严重的虫害或疫情，它们就不一定管用了。”

[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 药房。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]由于更有效的杀虫剂不能合法获取，一些种植户一直在暗地里使用药力更强也更危险的化学药品。《俄勒冈报》的一项调查发现，药房货架上那些声称经测试未发现杀虫剂的大麻药品实际上含有家用除蟑剂和其他一些法定不得用于食用农产品的杀虫剂残留。

[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 无希望成功的人或事。.

[7]事实上，由于缺乏相关研究，我们尚不清楚杀虫剂（残渣）是否对大麻种植户和消费者健康有直接影响。通常，生产杀虫剂的公司会与第三方实验室签订合同，测试产品毒性，然后将数据提交给环保署，从而得到销售许可。因为大麻是联邦管制品，大麻杀虫剂几乎不可能通过这种方式获得销售资格。

[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]俄勒冈州立大学杀虫剂毒理学家、国家杀虫剂信息中心主任戴夫·斯通认为，杀虫剂的危害不仅取决于其残留量，还与摄入方式有关。他表示，可食用大麻产品中过高的虫剂残渣可能危害健康，但就摄入物而言，肝脏至少可以提供一些保护。

[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 妥协的；缺乏抵抗力的。immune systems,who could getsecondary infections14 secondary infection 继发性感染；二次感染。by inhalingpathogens15 pathogen 病原体；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，完全弃用杀虫剂可能会导致其他健康问题。蜘蛛螨之类的虫害威胁主要会造成经济损失，而霉菌和细菌这些微生物不仅会感染大麻植物，对消费者身体也有害。尤其对那些免疫系统受损、依赖大麻药品的病人而言，有可能因为吸入病原体而引发二次感染。斯通说：“如果要在治疗中使用大麻药品，就必须考虑霉菌、白粉菌和其他微生物可能带来的问题。”

[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]随着越来越多的州试图让大麻合法化，缺乏对大麻杀虫剂的监管将可能影响越来越多的消费者。但是，只要联邦法律阻止产业和学界开展相关工作，这一问题就可能继续存在，无法解决。