Marijuana legalization raises safety questions
DENVER - Marijuana may be coming out of the black market in Colorado and Washington state, but the drug, at least for now, will retain a decidedly underground feel: Users may not know what's in it.
Less than a year away from allowing pot sales, state regulators are grappling with how to ensure that the legal marijuana industry produces weed that delivers only the effects that pot smokers want.
Whether it is rules for growing marijuana, including the use of pesticides and fungicides, or accurate product labeling, states will be doing it alone.
Federal agencies that regulate food and drugs are staying out because pot remains illegal under federal law. That means the states are starting from scratch to protect consumers from marijuana tainted by molds, mildew or unwanted chemicals.
