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Green screen By Zane Warman
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Staff Writer
professor at the University of New Haven is testing marijuana leaves to study whether they contain hazardous spores and contamination. While studying marijuana on a federal grant from the Office of National Drug Control Policy, Heather Miller Coyle, an associate professor at the University of New Haven and forensic biologist, began to notice a surprising amount of fungus growth on the leaves her research group was categorizing. She became concerned that the plants, which were being marketed as medical marijuana, might be contaminated and resolved to investigate. “If this is being distributed as healthy or medicinal, there should be certain levels of certification and quality control,” she said. “We’re looking at not just the chemical composition of the plant, but the bacterial and biological contaminants that are on the surface.” Coyle began developing a test to identify hazardous substances, such as E. coli or salmonella, which can grow on marijuana. In addition to testing the amount of bacteria, Coyle is also researching varying levels of contamination between synthetic and organic and how bacteria is transmitted when the patient uses different delivery systems. The tests are intended to prevent medical marijuana users from purchasing products that will cause an allergic reaction or infection from inhaled fungi spores or volatilized pesticides, she said. Without more testing, it is uncertain how users will react to these materials, said Jeffrey Raber, president of The Werc Shop, an independent cannabis lab in California. “It’s a great unknown really. But there are cases in which, if it is contaminated, exposure to that can create greater health risks,” he said.
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reasons. For example, he said, people who spend winters in Florida may want their driveway plowed before they return for the holidays. The cost of each job varies based on the length of the customer’s driveway and other
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converted those into individual game tickets after season-ticket sales were lower than expected. “Ideally, we hoped we could have sold those season tickets, but we understand not everybody can buy a season ticket,” he said. “I think going into
University of New Haven professor examines marijuana for contaminants
“To those who are sick or undergoing chemotherapy treatments, I don’t think it’s good to be exposing them to anything else of that fashion.” In Connecticut, pharmaceutical-grade cannabis is subjected to one of the most stringent medical programs in the United States today, Raber said. Independent testing for mycotoxins and other colony-growing contaminants is required. But because certification of quality is not required and “only as good as the people behind it,” the system can be abused, he said. Unlike Canada and the Netherlands, where marijuana standards are monitored, the United States federally opposes marijuana use, leaving quality control up to the states, he said. Because each state’s stance on the drug is different, it’s difficult for a universally accepted standard to be established, Raber said. “My stance is this: They should have a certification program in place where they know what varieties are grown, they can certify the safety and quality,” Coyle said. “I don’t really think there’s so much of an issue for the general public on safety.” Morgan Fox, communications manager for the Marijuana Policy Project, said the growing number of marijuana quality tests shows an increase in acceptance of its use. Marijuana is, in this usage, an agricultural commodity for consumption and should be treated as such, he said. “In the illicit market, there’s absolutely no quality control and no regulatory incentives for growers and producers who make sure that their product is untainted by adulterants, molds or pesticides,” he said. Although Coyle’s tests cannot eliminate the contaminants they find, Raber said, tests finding impurities in medical marijuana will lead to regulation of the substance and greater sup-
port to legalize elsewhere. “I think they’re taking the right approach to ensure that the purity of the compounds are high, and that’s what medicine demands,” he said. Coyle’s first goal in these tests is to ensure
that clean and healthy cannabis can be provided to users in need. Said Coyle: “From there, and pretty quickly, you’re going to see changes in the way that it’s grown, where it’s grown, and how it’s grown.”
factors, Mahoney said. Because Plowz is an ondemand, rather than seasonal service, customers control its cost based on the number of times they hire a snowplow. “We put the consumer in control,” Mahoney said, “They know exactly how much they’re going to spend.” After downloading the app for free, customers enter how many car lengths and what type
of pavement their driveway is and whether it’s straight or curved. Customers also provide their address to help drivers identify their house. The app also features the predicted snowfall in the customer’s area for the current day and next 48 hours. Driveways start at $25 per snowplow visit, Mahoney said, and most customers will fall close to that price range.
There is “considerable demand” for the service, Mahoney said, with more than 2,000 sign ups in the Syracuse area alone so far. But he and co-founder Englander are looking to expand even further. “We’re not just going to be hitting the Syracuse market,” Mahoney said, meaning that they’re looking to become nationwide service. “You’re going to see a lot of exciting things for our company.”
the ACC we had a high number we were shooting for, but we got way beyond where we did last year.” Tickets will be available for every home game, including high-profile matchups against Duke on Feb. 1 and UNC on Jan. 11. Giansante said a few hundred tickets will be available for the Duke game, with options in every price range and seating in various sections of the Carrier Dome.
“I would expect those to go extremely fast, within seconds I would think,” Giansante said. “We expect there will be some frustrated buyers, but there’s no other way to do it.” Giansante said the additional ticket sales will be a good reminder that seats are still available for the Orange’s game against UNC, which some people thought was sold out. He added that more tickets than usual were made
available for the game since students will still be on break at that time. Giansante said he believes fans are excited to find out there’s still a chance to buy tickets to remaining home games. He recommended purchasing tickets online to avoid the possibility of games selling out while waiting in line at the box office.
illustration by andy casadonte | art director
zmwarman@syr.edu
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