Health and Safety of Cannabis Workers

This chapter focuses on the agricultural aspects of the regulated cannabis industry, or the growing and cultivating of the cannabis plants. In California at the present time, approximately 58% of cannabis is grown in outdoor cultivation sites and only 9% in indoor facilities, with the remainder being cultivated in mixed light grows. Mold is a common contaminant in cannabis cultivation. Cannabis farm workers are potentially exposed to Actinobacteria as well as the cannabis plant pathogen causing gray mold, Botrytis cinerea, during harvesting, bud stripping, and hand trimming. Cannabis cultivation sites use pesticides, rodenticides, fungicides, and insecticides. Pesticides designed for safe use on marijuana represent a potentially problematic issue, as the marijuana industry continues to grow rapidly. Little data exist on the incidence, prevalence, or severity of musculoskeletal disorders among workers in the cannabis industry. Agriculture is a known cause of diverse adverse health effects, and the rapidly growing cannabis industry is no exception.