Marijuana’s prolonged illegal status continues to impede on the growth of the industry, even in states that have already legalized pot for recreational use, such as Washington and Colorado. Due to a lack of reliable research on the cultivation of marijuana crops, growers are struggling with which pesticides, fungicides, or herbicides to use without compromising the safety of a product many Americans use.

"We have an industry that's been illegal for so many years that there's no research. There's no guidelines. There's nothing," Frank Conrad, lab director for Colorado Green Lab, a pot-testing lab in Denver, told The Associated Press.

As you may know, pesticides in the United States are used as a plant regulator, defoliants, or desiccant. The pot industry’s demand for safe pesticides has increased as marijuana growth operations have moved from indoor warehouses to outdoor commercial fields. Unfortunately, horticulturists, botanists, and chemists are at odds over which pesticides and herbicides can remedy the situation considering marijuana can be smoked, eaten, or rubbed on the skin.

Who controls pesticides in this country? The government, of course. Needless to say, the U.S. government has not been quick to help an industry that it has deemed illegal. Thankfully, growers and pot advocacy groups believe they have found a sensible solution and one that’s been right under our noses all along: organic marijuana. The next step in making sure organic marijuana is actually organic will be the launch of the Organic Cannabis Association’s grower certification program.