Even the most ardent marijuana lovers can’t deny it: The plant, at least to some noses, stinks.
Marijuana odors have triggered lawsuits against cannabis companies. They’ve also led residents to try to block commercial operations from coming to California and the other eight states where recreational cannabis is legal and, increasingly, big business.
Odor has sparked some neighborhood friction, too, as marijuana smoke drifts from one apartment or yard to the next.
There are products on the market that claim to test for smells, block all odors from wafting out of indoor operations, and even help control the stench of outdoor marijuana farms.
Long before legalization, the cannabis industry grew accustomed to working underground — making growers and processors and distributors pretty good at hiding the smells associated with their businesses. While that might ease the possibility of odor-related friction, it doesn’t foster industry-wide communication about new ideas for tackling the issue, even as new anti-odor technologies are coming to market.
Only now — with odor control an area that’s both problematic and ripe for technical solutions — are marijuana entrepreneurs starting to share ideas about their industry’s stink factor.
“That’s probably the biggest hurdle now, for everybody involved, is knowing what’s available as best practices, and what’s feasible,” said Dana Pack with Fogco, an Arizona-based company that makes systems to neutralize unwanted smells.
Cities can mandate odor-control systems for home growers, or as a condition for approval of marijuana-related business permits.
But some in the industry note that odor requirements aren’t yet universal, and that odor control is yet another element of the marijuana business in which regulators aren’t keeping pace with the spread of legalization
“The licensing agencies are still in a learning curve,” said Chuck McGinley, technical director of St. Croix Sensory, a lab in Minnesota that tests for odors and makes products that help others do so in the field. “This is a very young industry.”
NEIGHBORS FIGHT BACK
Residents claim the stench of weed disrupts their quality of life, lowers their property values and causes problems for people with respiratory issues such as asthma.
Read the full story at The Cannifornian.
