I throw away any heavily infested branches at the end but the spider mites are just part of growing outdoors. Along with broad mites, caterpillars, leaf hoppers, catydids, ants, aphids, thrips, ladybugs, flies, mantids, gnats, lacewings, stink bugs, weevils, etc...
...and that's just bugs. There's also, birds, mold, fungus, and any other things flying around that will stick to resin. Also, every creature that comes into contact with it, both pest and beneficial, takes a crap on it.
To me, throwing out my own good herb over bug bodies (if they're not in excess) would be obsessive and nonsensical. Believe me, I know. I'm so OCD that it causes me panic attacks. But the thing is, it's your weed and you have a right to do whatever you want with it, and my opinion is for my own stash. Now, if someone were to tell me it's wrong for me to trade or give mine away for those reasons, I would promptly, directly, and with great zeal, tell them, "Go suck on a rock." Hehehe.
I used to be paranoid about food cleanliness until my teens, when I worked in fruit packing sheds and restaurants. When you know all the things that can contaminate produce, meats, etc, you have to decide to either turn that thought off, or starve.
People where I live accept that weed from around here is, more often than not, grown outdoors. That means it's covered in outdoor *stuff*. Then again, we are a very hippy-ish bunch and many wouldn't care much if our zucchini were laced with cholera as long as they were grown organic. Of course many members of this community also walk around in the winter with no shoes on. So their opinions might be a bit...
...iffy.
Hahaha.
