EPA: This pesticide is killing bees (it's also in some of your weed)

Bees have been dying at a historic rate over the last decade, and the Environmental Protection Agency is now pointing a finger toward a common pesticide found throughout much of traditional agriculture.

The chemical, imidacloprid, is also a favorite insecticide among many black market marijuana growers — as well as some legal cultivation professionals who haven’t yet seen the memo that imidacloprid, like every other registered pesticide, is illegal for use on cannabis. In Colorado marijuana, imidacloprid is banned and considered “a threat to public safety,” according to a 2015 executive order from Governor John Hickenlooper.

Gardeners (and gardeners) might not recognize imidacloprid by that name — but the pesticide brand names Merit and Mallet will sound familiar to some. Considered “moderately hazardous” by the World Health Organization and mildly toxic if ingested or inhaled by the National Pesticide Information Center, imidacloprid is one of five...

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