American LPs can’t claim your weed is organic, but they can have it certified kosher

Organic, schmanic. Out of necessity, American LPs are eschewing the ultra-green certification for one with a religious twist.

In the US, food classifications such as “organic” are federally approved and controlled – and since cannabis is legal in many states but remains federally prohibited, the designation cannot be assigned to cannabis or cannabis products, even if they technically otherwise pass muster.

 

 

Cannabis is currently classified as a Schedule I substance by the DEA, so producers are thinking outside the box when it comes to accommodating the high consumer demand for additive-free, pesticide-free cannabis. Although more than one self-appointed independent certification has emerged from the situation – the most well known being Clean Green Certified – a unified, federal regulator will not exist until the drug is removed from the list of controlled substances.

California cannabis producer Mitch Davis has developed another work-around. Instead of having his cannabis certified by a third party, which may or may not have recognition with consumers, Davis has his cannabis certified kosher.

Davis owns and operates Mission Kosher Cannabis Inc in Central Valley. Mission products are kosher-certified with the help of Rabbi Levy Zirkind, who began creating the standards for kosher cannabis a few years ago. Zirkind is also the director of Fresno’s Chabad, a prominent Orthodox Jewish-Hasidic movement with a focus on outreach in the Jewish community.

While kosher and organic are entirely different designations – the focus on kosher is on the cleanliness of production methods – Davis believes that both imply a high standard with regards to the purity of the product.

 

 

“You don’t have to be organic to be kosher,” says Davis. “You have to not have bugs, not have pest infestation; you have to go through the inspection.”

The inspection process involves random reviews of facilities, checking plants and harvested flower for bugs, ensuring that grow spaces are kept spotless, and making sure that growers are wearing the proper apparel in grow room environments.

“What’s great about being kosher is it puts an additional expectation on the employees,” says Davis. “They know we’re gonna get inspected. They know it’s random so everybody really tries to stay on their toes.”

Batches deemed infested with insects or otherwise contaminated are trashed.

“I’m not even allowed to sell it,” Davis says. “It gets destroyed.”

“We are trying to make sure that the plant is pure,” Zirkind says.

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