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Sputnik Drug Information Zone
http://www.nepenthes.xo.com/
How to Preserve Pot Potency
by stopping bugs and fungi before they damage your weed
by The Bush Doctor
_High Times_ May 1993
  
Growers taking time to harvest a healthy cornucpoia of cannabis
must also carefully watch over their cut crops.  In addition to
two-legged thieves, myriad bacteria, molds and insects have been
known to rip-off your stash while curing, drying, or in the
fridge.  Avoiding these ubiquitous threats is nearly impossible,
but there is a way to lessen their impact.  The key is being able
to manipulate storage conditions.
  
A variety of bacteria grow on damp marijuana.  Many are deadly.
Researchers have found _Klebsiella pneumoniae_, _Enterobacter
cloacae_ and _Streptococcus_ (group D) growing in government-
supplied reefer.  _Salmonella muenchen_ was found in marijuana
growing across the Midwest.  (Let someone else roll the joints.
I don't lick rolling papers anymore!)  Under anaerobic
conditions (i.e., damp marijuana stored in airtight containers),
_Clostridium_ species will rot pot; these are the famous
botulism bacteria.
  
In addition, a number of bacteria-like Actinomycetes have been
identified in confiscated ganja, including _Thermoactinomyces
candidus_, _T. vulgaris_, and _Micropolyspora faeni._  These
bugs cause allergic reactions (sometimes severe), as well as
"Farmer's lung" disease.
  
Insects in pot are less intense.  Growroom critters, such as
aphids and spider mites, rarely damage marijuana after harvest.
Smith & Olson (a list of references appears at the end of this
article) identified five beetle species from confiscated Mexican
weed in San Francisco.  They completed this study at the request
of the DEA agents, whose offices were overrun by the pests.  The
predominant species, _Tribolium confusum_ (confused flour beetle),
attacks only seeds, not marijuana proper.  Two other beetles cited
in the study, _Adistermia watsoni_ and _Microgramme arga_, are
fungus feeders (the marijuana was moldy).  Thankfully, the
researchers found no cannabis equivalent to _Lasioderma
serricone_, the tobacco cigarette beetle.  Otherwise some
whacked government lab would be growing the bugs en masse to
spread across the continent.
  
Fungi destroy more bud than bacteria and insects combined.
Bacteria in marijuana may be more dangerous to humans, but they
are rare.  Molds are common, and can be nasty: Ramirez reports
four policeman developing pulmonary histoplasmosis after pulling
up a 5,000-square-meter plot of marijuana in Puerto Rico.  Some
fungi won't rot pot, but they will put you in the hospital. 
Many fungi causing disease in plants die off after their host is
harvested.  Exceptions include _Botrytis cinerea_ (the cause of
gray mold) and _Alternaria alternata_ (brown blight).  After
harvest, your competition becomes _Aspergillus_, _Penicillium_,
_Rhizopus_, and _Mucor_, the baddest actors on the planet.  Each
genus causes disease under different conditions:
  
Ubiquitous _Aspergillus_ grows on anything from rocket fuel to
astronauts.  The genus is millions of years old; while _Homo
sapiens_ may come and go, _Aspergillus_ will remain.  Westendorp
first found an _Aspergillus_ species attacking _Cannabis_ in 1854.
More recently, Margolis & Clorfene describe a mold that
_increases_ potency in marijuana.  Their "black weblike fungus"
sounds like an _Aspergillus_ species.  *What* species, I'd like
to know....
  
Schwartz scraped _Aspergillus niger_ from the skull of a marijuana
smoker experiencing sinus headaches.  I frequently encounter _A.
niger_ growing in ganja stored at room temperature.  It does *not*
increase potency.  Kagen also reports _A. niger_ growing in moldy
marijuana, along with two *even nastier* Aspergilli:  _A.
fumigatus_ and _A. flavus._
  
Chusid et al. blame _A. fumigatus_ for causing near-fatal
pneumonitis in a 17-year-old.  They note the patient buried his
marijuana underground for "aging."  No doubt the patient was
looking for Margolis & Clorfene's fungus, but _A. fumigatus_
found him instead.  _A. flavus_, on the other hand, kills slowly.
It oozes carcinogenic metabolites called aflatoxins.  Llewellyn 
& O'Rear found aflatoxins contaminating Virginian marijuana.
  
_Aspergillus_ species grow better in warmer climates, _Penicillium_
in cooler climates.  Refrigerator storage encourages _Penicillium_
infestation.  Kagen et al. isolated _Penicillium_ from marijuana
cigarettes.  Babu et al. identified _P. chrysogenum_ attacking
marijuana.  (_P. chrysogenum_ occurs abundantly in nature, and was
Alexander Fleming's source of penicillin.)  I isolated _P.
italicum_ from marijuana stored with an orange peel at 0 degrees
Centigrade.  Adding peels to pot imparts a "pleasant bouquet"
(Frank & Rosenthal).  In my case, the peel imparted a nidus of
infection.  _P italicum_, the "blue citrus mold," is notorious for
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