Post: U.S. cannabis shoppers face market flush with illegal weed

In much of the U.S., illegal cannabis outcompetes legal weed sold in licensed shops. Officers with the law enforcement division of the California Department of Cannabis Control confiscate unlicensed marijuana plants in the Goldridge neighborhood of Fairfield, Calif., on Jan. 9. FAIRFIELD, Calif. — On a crisp winter morning last month, Sgt. Erin McAtee watched as members of his team with the California Department of Cannabis Control executed a search warrant at a home in Fairfield, halfway between Sacramento and San Francisco.

They broke open the door of what looked on the outside like any other upscale suburban house on this street. Inside, the home had been gutted, transformed into a smelly mess of marijuana plants, grow lights, chemicals and pesticides.

"You can see the mold down on the tarp down there," McAtee said. "Yup, that’s mold." His team also identified chemicals and pesticides not approved in the U.S. for use with consumer products like legal cannabis. Sgt. Erin McAtee led the raids of three private residences for unlicensed marijuana production in the Goldridge neighborhood of Fairfield, Calif. Officers recovered 2,001 pounds of cannabis plants and 167.56 pounds of cannabis shake. A dozen years after states first started legalizing recreational marijuana, this is the complicated world of American cannabis.

On the one hand, weed is now as normal to many consumers as a glass of wine or a bottle of beer. A growing number of companies offer government tested, well-regulated products. But a huge amount of the cannabis being sold in the U.S. still comes from bootleg operations. California officials acknowledge illegal sales still far outpace transactions through licensed shops and vendors.

According to McAtee, it’s often difficult even for experienced agents to tell weed sourced through regulated channels from the criminal stuff.

"Our undercovers will buy cannabis from people who are outwardly pretending to be legit," he told NPR. "They’ll tell you they have a license and that everything they’re doing is legit."

If it’s hard for experienced cops to distinguish regulated weed from black market products, it can be nearly impossible for average consumers. Advocates of marijuana legalization say it’s disturbing that unregulated […]

U.S. cannabis shoppers face market flush with illegal weed