What really doesn't make sense to me is, how come these other states aren't having the same problem? Or are they, and we're just not hearing about it yet? What is so different about Colorado that it's making people sick? Or are we just an easy target? Are these people coming from the same dispensaries?
As much as I hate conspiracies and conspiring. I refuse to buy from a dispensary who sprays Azamax...I don't doubt that there are some things in there that we shouldn't be smoking. The owners have repeatedly stated they want nothing to do with marijuana! So is it as safe to smoke it as they say it is? You be the judge...
The proof is in the pudding for me on this one.
Any true organic grower will tell you not to use bottled pesticides as they're made for food, not cannabis. And they're especially dangerous if they are being applied as the label says. There are much safer treatments for cannabis pests out there that don't require chemicals. Hyperaspis, ionized water, etc.
This is where Cali is one step ahead of us right now. 84% of their cannabis just failed the pesticide tests. I wonder how many would pass that same test in Colorado?
I've smoked homegrown for years knowing exactly what was in it, and I never had these symptoms until moving to Denver, buying from rec dispensaries, and noticing this one common ingredient.
I'm not really as concerned with Azadirachtin itself as I am with this one bottle that dispensaries are using so "safely".
Digging deeper...
Azamax is owned by General Hydroponics who is owned by Scotts Miracle-Gro, a close partner with Monsanto.
Sources: (http://www.omri.org/ubersearch/results/azamax)
"In 2012, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that Scotts was being fined $4 million for multiple, severe violations of federal insecticide, fungicide, and rodenticide laws.
Scotts pled guilty to illegally applying insecticides to bird food, falsifying documents, misleading consumers about pesticide use and safety, and distributing unregistered pesticides.
The EPA also announced that Scotts Miracle-Grow had to pay another $8 million in fines, penalties, and mitigation related to other violations.
Scotts also pleaded guilty to submitting false documents to EPA and to state regulatory agencies in an effort to deceive them into believing that numerous pesticides were registered with EPA when in fact they were not. The company also pleaded guilty to having illegally sold the unregistered pesticides and to marketing pesticides bearing labels containing false and misleading claims not approved by EPA. The falsified documents submitted to EPA and states were attributed to a federal product manager at Scotts. "
(http://bigbudsmag.com/scotts-miracle-gro-buys-general-hydroponics-marijuana-growers/)
Not sure what's causing CHS, but can't seem to find any other strong contenders, and I haven't gotten it since being careful to avoid it. (Over a year ago.)
Would love to see studies done in the future to see what's really causing this strange phenomenon.
But if it was really the chemicals they're using, wouldn't everyone get sick? Perhaps only the weakened immune systems are hit harder like myself.
Who knows...
Grow your own if you have the means.