"I think that what's so alarming to us is that such a huge amount of pesticide material could be transferred," Raber said. "And, you have to consider that when you inhale (something), it's much like injecting it directly into your blood stream."
On the pesticide issue, Raber said it's important to remember that smoking a marijuana bud that's been sprayed with chemicals is far different than eating a non-organic tomato. First and foremost, he said, there are no controls over what's sprayed on marijuana crops. And, while most people would rinse off a tomato before eating it, they can't wash a bud before putting it in their pipe. The body also has filters in place for things that are ingested, he said, but not for what's inhaled.
"You don't have the first pass metabolism of the liver," he said. "You don't have the lack of absorptivity going through the stomach or the gut lining. It's a very different equation when you're inhaling."