The marijuana industry should ask for and support an objective third-party audit.

This law would be neither anti-marijuana or pro-marijuana. It would demand information, which only stands to make the marijuana industry safer, more respectable, more defensible and more sustainable. Everyone should favor an audit.

The Oregon Secretary of State recently released an audit that found only 3 percent of the state’s pot retailers and a third of its growers had undergone mandatory inspections for molds, metals, bacteria and other potential hazards. The audit unearthed an array of public health concerns legislators and state employees can begin to address. Information, provided by an audit, will improve public health and safety.

A lack of accountability is no good for honest marijuana growers and sellers. It most certainly poses dangers for marijuana users who expect their products won’t harm them in the short term or long term with molds, metals, bacteria and other contaminants society tries to keep out of consumable goods.

To be genuinely mainstream, the marijuana industry needs the kind of common-sense scrutiny society applies to suppliers of food, pharmaceuticals, liquor and tobacco. Good businesses and consumers need protection from bad growers and sellers.

State politicians no doubt have great interest in the marijuana trade. Six weeks into the 2019 legislative session, they are considering at least seven marijuana bills. They include:

? SB 93, a bipartisan bill to allow felons to carry firearms if their convictions involved “the possession or use of marijuana that was lawfully possessed or used pursuant to the Colorado constitution.”

? HB 1028, a bipartisan bill adding autism spectrum disorders to medical conditions qualifying a child (under age 18) to obtain and use medical marijuana.

? HB 1031, a Democrat bill removing the limit of one primary caregiver at a time for medical marijuana patients under age 18. The law would allow each of a child’s parents or guardians to simultaneously serve as a caregiver.