Marijuana mites: Kind Reviews discovers local dispensary selling cannabis covered with critters

Last week, the folks over at Kind Reviews put up some disturbing pictures of spider mite infested cannabis from MariTrust, 4662 Glencoe Street. Spider Mites are small (one millimeter) crab-like spiders that take over plants, leaving eggs, webs and exoskeletons behind. While they're not necessarily harmful to smoke, such an...

By William Breathes

September 20, 2010

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Last week, the folks over at Kind Reviews put up some disturbing pictures of spider mite infested cannabis from MariTrust, 4662 Glencoe Street.

Spider Mites are small (one millimeter) crab-like spiders that take over plants, leaving eggs, webs and exoskeletons behind. While they're not necessarily harmful to smoke, such an infestation is gross and indicative of larger problems in a grow.

Apparently, the infestation was first noticed back in June, when Kind Reviews did their initial reviews on the shop's Northern Blue and Hog's Breath. The problem was privately brought to the attention of the store and Kind Reviews suggested that MartiTrust remove the medicine from the shelves.

Someone must have missed the memo. A few weeks ago, Kind Reviews got a tip from a patient that MariTrust had sold a bag of mite-ridden Master Kush. Representatives from Kind Reviews went back and again purchased the infested Northern Blue, as well as a critter-filled sample of Island Sweet Skunk. They also got their hands on the Master Kush from the patient.

"We are not out to smear anyone, but when word comes to us that a shop is knowingly selling infected medicine to patients, we feel that we must take action and do our part to inform patients," their site says. "Mites or mold can happen to the best and cleanest grow operations, but when a problem is so severe, and when the shop has already been informed, we feel that it becomes a safety and quality issue for patients that compels us to act."

A representative from MariTrust verified that they were made aware of the mite infestation in June, but blamed much of that on a former employee charged with quality control. He said they didn't realize they had more infected strains -- including a second batch of the Northern Blue -- until the end of August, when they got a more high-powered microscope.

According to an expert grower who's been at it for eleven years, mites are a common problem in dirty gardens, and not noticing an infestation that takes over five strains would be hard to do.

Representatives from MariTrust says all of their medicine is clean and that the mite problem has been fixed. They noted that patients are invited to use their new, high-powered microscope to check out the ganja before purchase. I haven't been into MariTrust yet, but I will check in with them in a few weeks to see if things have improved

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