If you’ve been following the cannabis scene in Maine, you know things are far from straightforward. A grower who recently took to social media and who wishes to remain anonymous to avoid potential retaliation from the Maine Office of Cannabis Policy (OCP), has just run headfirst into the absurdity of Maine’s compliance testing system. The truth is, the system is deeply flawed, and what’s being labeled as “safe” and “clean” is often just a convenient scam that preys on growers with little scientific backing.
Recently, this grower’s adult-use (AU) cultivation failed compliance testing for yeast and mold, with counts ranging from 12,000-23,000 cfu per gram. In simple terms, this meant the grower had to throw away over 10 pounds of finished flowerThe alternative? Pay a ridiculous amount of money to have the flower run through a fancy machine that X-rays it to “remediate” the contamination. The problem? This is a money-making racket with zero real science backing it.
Now, let’s get this straight: this grower has meticulously followed every clean growing practice in the book. Walls are bleached, HVAC filters have been swapped to MERV 13, ozone generators are used between cycles—all in an effort to maintain a spotless environment and produce remediation-free flower. The grower has done everything they can to ensure quality, and still, the compliance testing system says it’s not good enough. Why? Because it doesn’t matter how clean your facility is—testing doesn’t mean something is truly safe or clean.
Now, let’s talk about the testing itself. Today, this grower walked into MCR Labs to submit a compliance sample, and what’s the first thing they see? A ceiling tile with dark blue mold forming right in the middle of it. Not a big deal, right? After all, it’s just a ceiling tile. But that mold? It’s likely floating around in the air, settling on surfaces, and who knows what it’s contaminating. So, the lab responsible for testing cannabis—testing for mold, yeast, and other contaminants—has mold growing above their heads, yet that’s somehow okay. This is the facility that’s supposed to be an authority on testing “clean” cannabis?
This brings us to a critical point: testing doesn’t guarantee safety or cleanliness. Not all mold or contaminants are created equal. Sure, high levels of yeast and mold could pose a risk to consumers, but the truth is, not all molds are dangerous in the quantities found in cannabis. The problem isn’t the presence of mold itself—it’s the system’s arbitrary thresholds and the fact that testing labs, which are supposed to ensure safety, often operate in substandard conditions.
If you need any proof of how flawed this system is, just take a look at what’s happening with the OCP itself. If you walk into an OCP building or a testing lab, it’s not uncommon to find mold in their walls, ceilings, or corners. You’d think that these places would follow the same rigorous cleanliness standards they impose on growers, right?
But as I wrote previously for a Beard Bros Pharms article, titled “Is it Myth or Is It Mold?”, mold is, unfortunately, everywhere. It’s in the air we breathe, it’s on the surfaces we touch, and yes, it’s in the offices and labs that are testing our cannabis in Maine.
The article points out that mold has been around long before cannabis, and it’s a natural part of our environment, but we don’t hear about mold issues in these official spaces because it’s a “part of the game.” The lab that’s testing cannabis is walking around with mold on their ceiling tiles while telling growers to throw away perfectly good product for trace amounts of mold? It’s the height of hypocrisy.
This flawed approach is costing small farmers and businesses big time. Small growers are forced to throw away product—good product, flower that could have been sold and consumed safely—because it failed an arbitrary test. And what does that do for the consumer? It raises prices and limits access to quality cannabis. But why should it matter if the product in the labs and OCP offices is contaminated with mold? Clearly, it’s not a big deal when it’s on their end.
The system doesn’t care about true safety or cleanliness. What’s really happening here is that testing has become a financial tool for labs and big corporations, with little regard for actual science or consumer health. It’s a money-grab disguised as public safety. Growers are left holding the bill, and the consumer is none the wiser.
Let’s face it: the current compliance testing system in the Maine cannabis industry is broken. It’s a system that punishes small growers who are doing their best to adhere to stringent standards, only to have their product discarded or remediated with no real proof that it’s any safer. Until Maine addresses the inconsistencies, the hypocrisy, and the ridiculous costs involved in the system, this is going to keep happening. Good flower is being thrown away, and the money keeps flowing to the big players while small farms get squeezed out of the market. And allegedly in a lot of cases, this is the actual product that ends up on the “illicit markets” at scales the public has never seen before.
This is an opinion piece and does not necessarily reflect the views of Beard Bros Pharms.
More work from Derek here at Beard Bros Pharms:
A Look Inside Maine’s Medical and Adult Use Cannabis Markets.
When Was Maine’s First Cannabis Recall?
RECAP: Maine Cannabis Summit Recap Hosted by State Rep. David Boyer
Keeping Secrets and Changing Laws: Maine OCP’s Masterclass in Political Sleight of Hand
29 Cannabis Bills Hit Maine Legislature—What’s at Stake for Small Farmers and Patients?
Gov. Janet Mills Just Slammed Maine’s Medical Cannabis Program—And It’s a Total Disgrace
Maine’s Cannabis Testing Bill LD 104: A Death Sentence for Small Business and Patient Access
Maine OCP Under Investigation for Appearance of Conflict of Interest with Metrc
Derek Shirley was born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. At the age of 19, he received a felony for 4 ounces of cannabis. After, he became a “cannabis nomad” living in Ohio, Arizona, and Maine, which he now calls home, and lives with his wife Sequoia and son Haze.
Being a cannabis nomad had its advantages, like relying on all markets for his medical cannabis needs which gives him a unique perspective of the cannabis markets. Currently, he is an influential pro-cannabis activist in the state of Maine who helps local people and small businesses navigate their local and state governments without picking a political party specializing in protecting and preserving the small medical cannabis farmers of Maine. For fun, Derek enjoys screen printing and making cannabis memes under the pseudonym @gettinghighwithcats on IG
