Whether you need to take a sample to have it tested, or if you are driving across the state to spend time with family, at some point you will need to transport your cannabis. This article is an effort to provide guidance on how to transport your cannabis in a responsible way.
Foremost, when dispensaries open, you are legally required to leave the medical cannabis in it’s original packaging with the original labeling intact. Beyond this, here are a few tips that should help keep you out of trouble:
Never drive while under the influence (legal requirement)
Caregivers transporting cannabis on behalf of a patient must also label the container with the patients PAT# and name and keep separate from other patient medicine, or your own personal medicine (legal requirement)
Never consume cannabis in your vehicle (legal requirement)
Locate cannabis where it is out of reach from the driver’s seat
Place cannabis in a locked compartment, or locked container if possible
Use an airtight container when possible to minimize odors
At a minimum, you should always adhere to 1, 2, and 3. The last points are not critical, but will be a great idea and be appreciated by law enforcement.
If you can’t reach it from the driver’s seat then it is unlikely that you would have opportunity to consume while driving. If in a locked container or compartment then you have taken an additional step to prevent illegal access by others. If you prevent odors then it is less likely that you will be challenged by law enforcement if you are pulled over or involved in an accident. Labeling containers with MMEs will make it easier to demonstrate that you are within legal possession limits.
Finally, I recommend that you travel with your medicine only when necessary. The safest place for your medicine is at home under lock and key.
Safe Travels! — The Lit Farmer —
Disclaimer: This article is not a substitute for legal advice that may be provided by a licensed attorney.
Medical cannabis in Missouri must be kept in the container it was purchased in. However, this specifically applies to cannabis purchased at a licensed dispensary. This leaves additional storage options open for the home-cultivator – just don’t forget that a caregiver must have all medical cannabis labeled with the patient it belongs to. Storing in an appropriate container can help maintain potency and keep the cannabis in top form until consumption.
The enemies of freshly cured cannabis are light, heat, moisture, and oxygen.
After drying and curing your cannabis, the moisture content should be low enough that off-smells (usually a fresh-hay smell) are no longer present. These smells occur due to biological activity within the cannabis itself, but this biological activity must stop when moisture levels drop sufficiently. Without enough moisture, mold spores and other nasties cannot germinate and spoil your medicine. Your storage container must be air-tight to keep moisture out.
Exposure to atmosphere, oxygen in particular, will cause THCTHC is the most famous cannabinoid and is psychoactive. TH... to degrade into CBN. This can be useful as CBN has a highly sedative effect, but is not usually desirable. Professional packagers will back-fill cannabis packages with nitrogen (non-reactive) to prevent this from occurring. However, as long as your storage container is air-tight and you don’t open it frequently, there is only so much oxygen that can possibly react with the medicine. Once again, you need an air-tight container.
Light also degrades cannabinoids – UV light especially. For this reason, your container should be opaque or kept in a dark place. If complete darkness is not possible, brown/amber glass may be used as these containers are known to block UV (see bottling practices in the beer industry).
Heat is the least of your worries considering that people tend to avoid uncomfortable heat and if the temperature is comfortable for you, it’s ok for your medicine. Cooler is better. This is also a good time to note that keeping a stash in your super-hot car during the summer is generally a bad idea. Keep only small amounts if you must, as it will degrade quickly. Also keep in mind that the most volatile terpenes will start to disappear at around 70 degrees (F).
Storage Container Materials
A final consideration is to select containers made of appropriate materials. For example, did you know that the terpenes (e.g. limonene) found in some varieties can melt plastic? This takes time, but it can happen. I’ve seen it and I do NOT want to smoke plastic.
Paint can be reactive as well as the aluminum or stainless steel that ammo cans are made of.
Glass is always a great choice. It is non-reactive and has been used to store food for a very long time. Finding brown glass can be challenging though and glass is fragile.
Paper (cellulose) can be a good choice given that the plant material is made of pretty much exactly the same thing. Just be sure that the paper doesn’t have any ink that could transfer to your medicine. However, paper is not air-tight.
Since plastic and paint can be reactive you can find success by lining such containers with a paper bag, which holds the cannabis.
Some plastic vacuum seal bags are specially made to be non-reactive, but you will want to test this with each manufacturer to be sure. Changing brands can be an issue where vacuum seal bags go, but it can be a good option to remove excess oxygen as well. Just be sure not to crush your cannabis as that will reduce quality.
I like to use food-grade buckets with GammaSeal lids. I just put a large paper grocery sack inside and fill the contents loosely if curing. I also like vacuum sealing, but only with premium FoodSaver bags and only for long-term storage. Ammo cans are also good, but I’m leery about the paint used.
Off-gassing
New food grade plastic buckets, ammo cans, cars, and many more things have a ‘new’ smell, have you ever noticed that? This is caused because just after manufacture, many materials will need to continue curing before they become stable. During this process you will need to allow them to air-out prior to use. Heat and steady air flow can help accelerate this process.
The processing of out-gassing new products can sometimes take a VERY long time. I’ve had a few buckets and ammo cans that I never ended up using to store my medicine in. They never seemed to lose that chemical smell and I refuse to use such items for storage of cannabis that I intend on consuming.
If you need to store something quickly, the ol’ fashioned canning jar is hard to beat. Otherwise, be thinking of these needs well in advance. I’ve already got some buckets being prepared for the fall harvest. I’m only 3 months early – but I might need every single day between now and then.
As a final note, you can use products like Boost or Boveda to help maintain the ideal humidity in your storage container. Many have used these products with good results and they can help to keep your medical cannabis from becoming either too dry, or too moist.
Happy Harvests! — The Lit Farmer —
5gal bucket with GammaSeal lid – out-gassing in the open air
The Missouri Section for Medical Marijuana Regulation (SMMR) had commissioned a market study that was delivered in April 2020. My analysis was provided at that time. In a recently published annual report, delivered to the Governor’s office, the SMMR makes the following assertion:
“For consumers, the market study acknowledged the data collected by other states was incomplete and wisely contemplated projections at several different rates, including a rate that matches Missouri’s experience so far.”
The ‘consumers’ referenced are the certified patients and the ‘rate’ is, apparently, the rate of patient uptake. In the referenced study, the highest rate for projected patient uptake results in an estimate of 26,404 patients by the end of June 2022.
Given that Missouri now has more than 50,000 patients but has yet to complete the first full year of patient registrations (much less 3 years). I am having trouble understanding how the assertion above “matches Missouri’s experience so far” – in any shape or form. While normally I would pass over this sort of nuance because mistakes do happen, I don’t believe it is wise to pass this one over.
The leader of the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, Dr. Randall Williams, has made it known publicly that the limitations on the market (minimal cap on licensed facilities) is primarily based on the referenced market study. Thus, the assertion above seems to be an attempt to validate the study and, indirectly, validate the decision to keep licensed facilities at a minimum.
I don’t prefer to speculate, but I’m left to wonder if this was done purposefully. If so, is my conjecture correct? Can the SMRR be compelled to issue a correction? Am I missing something?
Food for thought, — The Lit Farmer —
The referenced study’s patient projections is significantly inaccurate compared to actual.
In this short episode Big V gives a smoke report on LA Pure Kush and Eric talks about his experience with Purple Lemonade. Eric also addresses a listener question about insect frasssolid form of insect excrement; bug poop More.
Listeners may use “LIT20” to get 20% off at checkout when ordering from Midwest Mealworms.
Want to find your purpose for cultivating this amazing plant? Tune-in!
Have Questions? Reach them via email to KCGrowCoach@gmail.com or contact them through the website . They might read your question on-air, but won’t say your name unless you clear them to.
Special Guests: None in this episode.
Find the Lit Farming podcast in your favorite podcast program – now available in Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, Overcast, Pocketcast, Castro, Castbox, and more!
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The time is upon us. For those transitioning directly from inside to outside in their gardens, the last window will be closing in a few weeks. Your plants will mostly likely flower when you take them outside due to the difference in length of dark period (night-cycle). It is now within two weeks of the solstice, so that’s perfect! It takes a couple weeks for the plant to transition from vegetative state to flowering phase. By the time they start to flower the nights will be getting longer – which is the usual signal the plant uses to flower when outdoors. This means that they’ll just keep on flowering.
Don’t worry if you’re not quite ready. You can take plants outside as late as the end of June. Some assert that you can do this as late as August 1, I just haven’t had luck with it myself as most cannabis won’t finish until November in that case (too late). That said, if you have a short-flowering variety you might be able to pull it off.
Cannabis that was grown outdoors from the very start probably won’t start to flower until mid to late July. I’ll be flowering in two weeks which means I’ll probably harvest 2-3 weeks early as well! Yeah, I sure like the idea of harvesting in the last week of September.
Make a plan and get out there and rock it!
Happy Harvests, — The Lit Farmer —
The Lit Farmer taking the ladies to their forever home
This short episode discusses a proven method of getting the most cannabinoid and terpene potency from your garden with well-timed stress to the plants.
Links related to this episode: none
Want to find your purpose for cultivating this amazing plant? Tune-in!
Have Questions? Reach them via email to KCGrowCoach@gmail.com or contact them through the website . They might read your question on-air, but won’t say your name unless you clear them to.
Special Guests: None in this episode.
Find the Lit Farming podcast in your favorite podcast program – now available in Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, Overcast, Pocketcast, Castro, Castbox, and more!
Email subscribers will need to visit this web page in order to access show media.
I made a mistake. I did not properly test a new product and have paid the price. A number of freshly rooted cuttings and parental stock were affected. The product was an off-brand essential oil spray (clove oil mainly). Despite the fact that I had gotten positive reviews and have used the product before, this time it nuked all the little girls I applied it to.
The mistake I made was not testing the product on my plants. This should be done every time you get a new product, especially a new batch of spray-on product. What I should have done is test the product on a single leaf, or even a single plant. Had I done this I would have noticed the curling of leaves within the day. I would have noticed that the formulation of this batch was not correct. It was too strong or there was some additive that did real damage to the plants. Many plants won’t make it.
This cautionary tale is simple: Any time you get something new to use on your plants or in your soil, always give it a limited test first. Don’t make my mistakes.
Happy Harvests! — The Lit Farmer —
Young cannabis plants damaged by a preventative spray of essential oils.
How long does it take cuttings, choosing a location outdoors, odor concerns (gotta’ stank to be dank), jack the Ripper, sun intensity, building native soil, ground cover, container (battery) size, low-till soil farming, transitioning indoor plants to sunlight (hardening off)
Want to find your purpose for cultivating this amazing plant? Tune-in!
Have Questions? Reach us via email to KCGrowCoach@gmail.com or contact them through the website . They might read your question on-air, but won’t say your name unless you clear them to.
Special Guests: None in this episode.
Find the Lit Farming podcast in your favorite podcast program – now available in Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, Overcast, Pocketcast, Castro, Castbox, and more!
SR-71 & Morning Dew smoke reports Preparing cuttings for outdoors, variations on timing the move to outdoors to account for changes in light cycle, pollination risk, root development, using supplemental lighting, ideas for using containers, watering, and more.
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Want to find your purpose for cultivating this amazing plant? Tune-in!
Have Questions? Reach us via email to KCGrowCoach@gmail.com or contact them through the website . They might read your question on-air, but won’t say your name unless you clear them to.
Special Guests: None in this episode.
Find the Lit Farming podcast in your favorite podcast program – now available in Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, Overcast, Pocketcast, Castro, Castbox, and more!
This week (May 17-21, 2020) should be a great week to move your cannabis plants under the sun. It can be nerve wracking to do this and frequently you will end up with burnt plants if you transition too quickly. However, the weather right now is nearly ideal to get this done.
This week’s forecast includes cool temperatures and overcast skies. This means that the sky will provide a natural shade that should greatly reduce the chances of light-burn to your plants. Light-burns occur when a combination of heat and light intensity actually damages the plants. Instead of blistering as human skin would, chlorosis (yellowing) is quickly followed by necrosis (death) of sensitive plant tissues.
The cannabis plants will display varying levels of sensitivity that are driven by a couple primary factors; indoor light intensity, and genetics. Some varieties of cannabis can tolerate a lot of light stress normally. I could explain why, but I’d mostly be guessing. What we can talk more about is the type of light you used indoors to start the plant.
If you use a shop-light or some sort of low intensity light, your plants will be more likely to burn given that full sun-light (up to 2000 PPFD) is vastly more intense than flourescents (up to 400 PPFD). On the other hand, if your plants enjoyed a top of the line LED (up to 1700 PPFD) that you have dialed up to full intensity, then the transition to natural sunlight will be much quicker.
Making the transition
A shade tree can be used if the sun is bright and it is warm outside. The indirect light a plant gets will still be stronger than your weaker indoor lights. Position your cannabis so that it will receive sun light after about 4-5 pm (west side of the tree). On the third day, move them slightly westward so that they get full sun starting at 3pm. Increase the amount of full sun each day until full dawn-dusk sunlight is achieved. This is a great method if you can’t babysit them all day because you should only have to adjust once per day.
Alternately, a shade cloth can also be employed and you will find that 80% shade cloths are most common. 80% light blocking will surely prevent the plant from becoming burned and you can use that cloth much like the shade tree above.
You may also be able to use the north side of a building, privacy fence, etc. to provide the needed shade. Move the plants into the sun for an hour, then back to the shade for the rest of the day. Increase exposure to full sun by an hour or two each day until full sun is achieved. It will require more babysitting, but is very doable. Both of these methods will take a week for the most sensitive plants.
Watching for light-burn
The earliest signs of light stress will be drooping leaves; imagine that the sun is melting the plant. Soon, leaf tips and edges may begin to curl, which usually means some damage will become apparent in the next day or two. If you see yellowing already then the plant is in distress. If you notice any of these signs, move the plants to shade immediately and wait for 24 hours to assess any damage that may have occurred.
Avoid letting your soil dry as well. Cannabis, like most plants, also uses transpiration (of water vapor and gasses) to control leaf surface temperature. Ensuring adequate water will help with this transition.
When at temperatures over 80 degrees, light stress can show itself very quickly in sensitive plants. Temperatures below 55 seem to cause the plant to have trouble adjusting to environmental changes (like light), and is likely due to a slowed metabolism.
All that being said, this week is the week! Cooler temperatures coupled with overcast skies that transition to partly cloudy by the end of the week makes for the perfect conditions to transition your cannabis to its new outdoor home.
