Is Legal Weed Really Safer Than Cannabis From the Black Market?

Dear Stoner: Is legal weed safer than weed from the black market? I know the legal stuff is supposed to be tested, but I'm still not convinced that it's better than what my old dealer sold.
Ravy

Dear Ravy: Theoretically, legal cannabis grown in a regulated environment with post-harvest testing should be safer to consume than something grown without oversight. And in a lot of cases, that's true. But as someone who's covered legal cannabis for over ten years, I've seen plenty of licensed growing operations with mold, mites and other questionable traits. We've posted photos and videos of unhealthy plants in legal cannabis grows in the past, and if there's one, there are usually more.
Legal weed has more checks and balances in place, but even those have pretty big cracks. Just look at the most recent mold recall in Colorado: the state Marijuana Enforcement Division issued the recall on January 13, but the cannabis in question was sold for almost a year, from December 28, 2023, to December 11, 2024. If you bought an eighth of that moldy weed last January, how is that notice going to help you now?

On the flip side, that doesn't mean that all black-market cannabis is grown with love and pure intentions. Most weed is grown to make money, and ethics rarely generate more money on the black market. Legal or not, the quality and trust you have in your cannabis is tied to what you know about the producer. Have you seen the garden? Do you know the grower? Have they been subject to a recall before? I know that's not easy for the occasional dispensary shopper or cannabis user,
these are all things to consider next time.

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