During the 1970’s, most marijuana was grown in outdoor areas that were hard to find and were not readily visible to law enforcement. However, with new law enforcement techniques, including aircraft for surveillance, these large outdoor operations have become more vulnerable to detection and in much of the country growth is seasonally limited by temperature and light. In addition, restricting the pollination of the female plants in the outdoors is more difficult thereby limiting the 8-9-tetrahydrocannabinol(THC) content of the buds. These factors have contributed to an increase in indoor marijuana grow operations.
A number of reports have suggested that the principal concern in indoor marijuana grow operations is the presence of excessive mold spore levels due to the elevated temperatures, humidity, and organic material in these operations. The present study has confirmed this concern. Over 60% of the MGO’s that were sampled had mold spore levels or Penicillium spore levels that exceeded outdoor levels by at least 10 times. In some cases, the levels were in excess of 100 times the outdoor level.
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