Dangers Of Finding Mold in Your Bud

More and more, people are finding mold in their buds. Molds produce toxins. Dangerous ones that attract medical scrutiny. Not just mold neither, but bacteria too, even fungi. Such organisms thrive in damp conditions, where they breed happily. This is why drying your buds is so very important. Before you store them, make doubly sure they are properly dry. Not every cannabis dispensary in Washington D.C. will check for this. Where you go matters. It matters very much. 

How Mold Affects Bud

Cannabis buds are ideal for molds and mildews. Flowers are dense. Sticky and oftentimes, overly damp. This makes perfect conditions for such microbes. Spores proliferate in even slight damp. If warm, then its spread fast becomes unstoppable. Moldy bud is the very worst. The lowest quality. The dirtiest weed you can get. One cannot sell it. It harms. Nobody, but nobody, wants it. Even so, you might well find moldy bud in your delivery. Where you buy matters. It matters very much. 

Mold harms cannabinoids.

Cannabinoids are more prized than any other molecules in cannabis plants. They are therapeutic. Psychoactive. Responsible for many of the benefits associated with weed. Cannabinoids are abundant, numbering well over 100. Tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, is the most famous of them. The one that makes you stoned. Cannabidiol, or CBD, is too, but more for its medical usefulness. 

All cannabinoids are important, however. This is especially true for patients. Whole plant medicine proves best, every time, but mold kills them. Destroys them. Disables them. Mold damages cannabinoids so badly it renders them useless. Ineffective. Understandably, this affects efficacy significantly. Its ability to buzz you too. You will not get healthy or high. Probably sick, more likely.

Mold hurts terpenes.

Terpenes give buds their flavor. Their smell. Mold is particularly destructive to these beneficial compounds, killing them outright. Turning your bud sour. Making it smell and taste bad, not the way weed should. Terpenes have medicinal properties all their own. Effects too. They are useful. Necessary. Without terpenes, your bud is as good as dirt. Certainly, it will never be better. 

How Mold Affects Health

Your health should concern you, if foul smelling and bad tasting bud does not. Moldy weed is never good. You really do not want to be inhaling mold spores, especially if sick already. Doing such is incredibly risky. Mold can, and does, make people very, very sick. As the U.S. National Library of Medicine explains, mold causes respiratory distress. It causes disease, like chronic pulmonary aspergillosis and others too awful to even name. 

Mold is dangerous for a variety of reasons. Not even the harshest conditions can kill a mold spore. They survive in inhospitable climates, where no other microbes fare well. Not even fire kills. When you light them up, you simply inhale them live. Direct. What is more, your lungs are warm. Wet. The perfect haven for mold spores and other uninvited organisms. For many, the human body is the ideal environment throughout all stages of their lifecycles. 

You will, almost certainly, get a lung infection. If that is not bad enough, mold produces its own toxic waste. These chemicals, called endotoxins and mycotoxins, are incredibly dangerous. As organisms die, they release endotoxins. These agitate the lungs and worsen existing irritation, triggering asthma and similar attacks. Mycotoxins severely irritate the lungs. They cause sickness too, the kinds you really, really, really want to avoid. 

Inhaling endotoxins and mycotoxins together, in a big joint say, will almost surely cause an inflammatory response. Smoking them together regularly almost certainly will aggravate, if not outright trigger, some scary autoimmune diseases. Risk of infection is near guaranteed. Once infected, spores spread quickly through the body, making you very sick. Some of the most common symptoms of mold exposure include, but are not limited to: 

• Allergies
• Asthma
• Brain Fog
• Chest Pain
• Coughing
• Dizziness
• Fatigue
• Headache
• Light Sensitivity
• Memory Loss
• Mood Changes
• Weakness

Common Molds in Cannabis Plants

Cannabis provides the perfect environment for molds and mildews to thrive. As such, it attracts a variety of species. These vary by area, creating opportunity to infect humans and plants alike. Prevention is better than cure. Always. Growers must have clean, airy, dry areas with plenty moving ventilation. Every cannabis dispensary in Washington D.C. is also duty-, morally-, and legally-bound to ensure adequate laboratory testing of the products in its store. You should never find, but likely will: 

Aspergillus

Aspergillus is a fungus. One that produces dangerous mycotoxins. Some Aspergillus species are proven carcinogenic. They cause cancers. It loves human lungs. Infects them badly. Seriously for those with immune system troubles. Aspergillus is a leading cause of emphysema. Luckily, treatment is fast and effective in its early stages, and if patients adhere to their doctors’ recovery orders. 

Cladosporium

Cladosporium is a plant fungus. You find it in porous habitats, like wood and paper. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Cladosporium triggers hay fever and asthma, even though it makes no mycotoxins. Frequent exposure risks developing pneumonia, bronchitis, and other conditions of the respiratory system. It makes breathing tricky. It threatens life. Often, it kills. 

Botrytis

Of all pathogens, Botrytis is likely the most common on weed plants. This is a gray mold, one that, when inhaled, triggers extreme and very severe allergic reactions. If chronic, it can cause acute respiratory failure. Those at most risk are those with compromised immune systems and those with allergen sensitivities. However, in large quantities, Botrytis can make seriously, seriously ill. 

Legal Weed Stores in Washington D.C. 

To avoid moldy bud, buy legal. Licensed dispensaries must comply with strict safety controls. These include testing all cannabis products at independent laboratories. Each must come with its own Certificate of Analysis, which should list the cannabinoids present on its label. Its terpene profile. Its clearance of all harmful pathogens, including mold, fungi, and bacteria. Such bud come with a mold-free guarantee. Not something you find anywhere else.