Pubdate: Mon, 02 Dec 2013
Source: Seattle Times (WA)
Copyright: 2013 The Associated Press
Contact:  http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/409
Author: Dave Collins, Associated Press

DNA TEST TO DETECT TAINTED POT IN WORKS

Scientists at Conn. University

Method to Make Analysis Quick, Easy

WEST HAVEN, Conn. (AP) - The microscope at the University of New 
Haven, set at 10-times magnification, shows a marijuana leaf covered 
with dozens of tiny bumps. It's mold, and someone, somewhere could be 
smoking similarly contaminated pot and not have a clue.

Heather Miller Coyle, a forensic botanist and associate professor at 
the university, says all sorts of nasty things not visible to the 
naked eye have been found in marijuana - mold, mildew, insect parts, 
salmonella and E. coli, to name a few.

That's why Coyle and her students earlier this year began developing 
a new process to detect contaminants in marijuana through DNA 
profiling and analysis. The aim is to be able to identify potentially 
harmful substances through a testing method that could make the 
analysis easier and quicker for labs across the country in the 
developing industry of marijuana quality-control testing.

Twenty states and Washington, D.C., allow medical marijuana with a 
doctor's recommendation, and Washington and Colorado have legalized 
recreational pot. Connecticut and Washington already require testing, 
and other states are doing the same, spawning a testing industry.

"If there's no certification ... it's like saying we don't check our 
meat for mad-cow disease," Coyle said. "That's our goal as a private 
university, to develop the tools to address or mediate this issue."

A number of labs are testing marijuana for contaminants using 
different methods, many of which have been around for decades and 
used to test other plants, including food crops, for harmful substances.

The health effects of marijuana tainted with mold, pesticides and 
other contaminants aren't clear, said Mason Tvert, a Colorado-based 
spokesman for the Marijuana Policy Project in Washington, D.C. The 
project was founded in 1995 to lobby for the reduction or elimination 
of penalties for marijuana use.

"Although we have not seen significant problems with tainted 
marijuana in the past, we should certainly be taking steps to make 
sure it's not a problem in the future," Tvert said. "We have never 
seen a death solely associated with marijuana use. The same certainly 
can't be said of alcohol and other drugs."

Food and Drug Administration records from 1997-2005 show no cases in 
which marijuana was the primary suspected cause of death, but the 
drug was listed as a secondary suspected cause in 279 deaths.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in July that 
an "epidemic" of synthetic drug use has caused rising numbers of 
deaths and emergency-room visits.

One study released earlier this year, however, found that pesticide 
residues on cannabis are transferred to inhaled marijuana smoke, 
possibly posing a "significant toxicological threat."

The study was done by The Werc Shop, an independent testing lab for 
medical cannabis in Pasadena, Calif., and published in the 
peer-reviewed Journal of Toxicology.

Marijuana can develop mold from an inadequate drying process or poor 
storage conditions after harvesting. It can also become tainted with 
E. coli and other dangerous substances by being near farm animals.

Coyle will be developing a new method for creating DNA profiles of 
biological contaminants found in marijuana, including mold, viruses, 
fungi and bacteria.

The profiles could then be compared with DNA profiles of organisms 
kept in a database maintained by the National Center for 
Biotechnology Information - a division of the National Institutes of Health.

"What we're trying to do is put the information together in a 
user-friendly format," Coyle said. "Having some better technology in 
place is a good thing."

The university's work also will include identifying whether cannabis 
material is real marijuana or a synthetic version made up of 
non-marijuana herbs sprayed with THC, the compound that gets users high.

Coyle aims to complete the new process by next summer. What happens 
after that hasn't been determined. The school could patent it and 
sell it, or could allow its use for free, she said. The school also 
could establish its own commercial testing lab.

The University of New Haven's work is an extension of its 
law-enforcement-related marijuana DNA profiling. The school created a 
database that has helped federal authorities determine where illegal 
pot growers and dealers got their product.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom