California struggles to keep pesticides out of weed

Good morning, and welcome to the Essential California newsletter. Here’s what you need to know to start your weekend:

• Tests of hundreds of cannabis products found hidden pesticides.
• What to know about Newsom’s state of emergency over bird flu.
• Ring in 2025 with these 25 exceptional New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day meals.
• And here’s today’s e-newspaper

New tests find hidden pesticides are in California cannabis products

More than half of cannabis smoking products in California’s legal market contain chemicals that are not being monitored for public safety, my colleague Paige St. John reports in a new Times investigation that looked at hundreds of product tests and industry surveys.

The investigation raises significant questions about health threats to consumers and the state’s ability to monitor cannabis products, issues that have emerged as California’s $5-billion legal cannabis market struggles to overcome a resilient black market and growing competition from other states.

Here are three big findings from Paige’s investigation. You can also find a searchable database of pesticide testing reports in this link.

(Photo illustration by Jim Cooke / Los Angeles Times; Photos via Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times)

1. An insecticide used to disinfect hospitals and dog kennels was found in the testing of vapes

The insecticide, pymetrozine, is a carcinogen banned in Europe and was once used in Lysol.

It’s illegal to treat cannabis crops in California with pymetrozine. But some farms list the chemical in their monthly pesticide use reports to the state without any apparent consequence, Paige reports.

Pymetrozine was present in 13 out of 14 vaping products by Stiiizy, the state’s top-selling vape brand, according to Times analysis of tests.

2. Tests of more than 370 legal cannabis products identified the presence of 45 pesticides that California does not track in cannabis

California does not mandate testing for pymetrozine and many other pesticides. The state requires screening cannabis products for 66 chemicals, a list that hasn’t changed since the guidelines were created in 2017.

Paige’s investigation, which drew from tests done independently for The Times and others that came from a private market survey, checked for more than 290 pesticides beyond the ones required by the state.

An analysis of the testing data also showed the presence of potentially dangerous chemicals used to dilute products.

3. It’s unclear what changes or improvements the state will make in the testing of pesticides

Regulators told Paige that they believe the majority of legal products meet state standards, and they minimized the extent of contamination in the supply chain.

Responsibility for regulating pesticides in cannabis falls under a startup agency, the Department of Cannabis Control. The department, however, is still setting up a lab fully capable of testing for compounds and creating enforcement mechanisms.

Facing a perceived regulatory void, some industry leaders have come up with their own solutions, such as expanding internal testing of products.

There’s also a group that offers certification for cannabis goods that go through more rigorous testing. It comes from the Environmental & Consumer Compliance Organization, which awards its ECCO label to brands that meet its requirements.

The week’s biggest stories

Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency as the H5N1 bird flu virus moves from the Central Valley to Southern California dairy herds.

(Tomas Ovalle/For The Times)

What to know about Newsom’s state of emergency over bird flu

• Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency in California after the CDC confirmed a severe case of bird flu in Louisiana.
• The declaration by Newsom will allow for a more streamlined approach among state and local agencies to tackle the virus, which has spread to 645 dairy herds in the state.
• Meanwhille, more cats in Los Angeles appear to be infected with bird flu.

The EPA approved California’s ban on the sale of new gas cars by 2035

• The EPA this week signed off on two major California clean air rules designed to reduce pollution from cars and trucks. Some critics want President-elect Donald Trump to try to revoke the EPA’s decision.
• Meanwhile, California’s strict auto emission standards have gotten the attention of the U.S. Supreme Court.

She went to prison in Varsity Blues admissions scandal. Now she says she was a scapegoat

• In her first-ever interview, former USC athletic administrator Donna Heinel recounts her time at the epicenter of the Varsity Blues scandal, her four months in prison and her continued devotion to USC.
• She told The Times that her superiors not only knew about the special treatment of wealthy teens but also encouraged it and, in one case, trained her to carry it out.

California vowed to shut down colonies where hundreds of captive dogs supply blood for veterinary care. But the blood is still crucial for saving lives

• Without the blood supplied by captive donors, many other dogs in critical need would die from injuries and disease, veterinarians say.
• In 2021, state lawmakers declared closed colonies inhumane because the animals are held captive. They vowed to replace them with community blood banks, which have not matched the output of colonies.

More big stories

• Can California change a dark culture at Chowchilla women’s prison?
• After 29 years in prison, a teenage murderer gets a new start in life from a stranger.
• The feds closed Mt. Baldy to hiking until December 2025. A rebellion is brewing.
• “Messy” atmospheric storms in California could slam holiday travel.

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This week’s must reads

(Ayman Oghanna/Ayman Oghanna/For The Times)

Killings, including a notorious massacre, in a Syrian suburb left residents wanting revenge. Then they heard a militia leader was going to be hanged, Times foreign correspondent Nabih Bulos reports.

More must reads

• Three dead girls and a man on death row. Did lies put him there?
• Transgender people working in the U.S. government see peril under Trump.
• Los Angeles was once “Drag City.” Now the area’s last speedway is closing after a night of muscle car mayhem.
• A new mausoleum in Los Angeles is a high-rise for the dead.

How can we make this newsletter more useful? Send comments to essentialcalifornia@latimes.com.

For your weekend

For New Year’s Eve, Lumière is hosting a prix-fixe dinner with a Wagyu and black truffle tart, accompanied by a welcome glass of Champagne, live entertainment and a festive midnight toast.

(Lumière)

Going out

• 🍲 Ring in 2025 with these 25 exceptional New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day meals.
• 🐕 These are the nine coolest dog parks in Southern California.
• 🏋️ How do you stay active as you age? Readers 65 and older share the fitness routines they love.
• 🎨 A portrait of Queen Mariana, on loan to Pasadena’s Norton Simon Museum, is loaded with royal intrigue and mystery.

Staying in

• 🎄 This year’s roster of Hallmark’s Countdown to Christmas movies includes an NFL partnership and films that poke fun at the genre’s cliches.
• 📺 In Peacock’s new comedy “Laid,” the term “body count” suddenly becomes all too literal.
• 🧑‍🍳 Here’s a recipe for Death & Co.’s Vintage Eggnog.
• ✏️ Get our free daily crossword puzzle, Sudoku, word search and arcade games.

How well did you follow the news this week? Take our quiz.

(Times staff and wire photo)

Timothée Chalamet has been generating Oscar buzz for his portrayal of which musician in the recently released biopic “A Complete Unknown”? Plus nine other questions from our weekly news quiz.

Have a great weekend, from the Essential California team

Hunter Clauss, multiplatform editor

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