Whether Michigan violated the rights of a marijuana business witha massive 2021 recallis beside the point, a federal court ruled this week.
“Federal law considers marijuana to be contraband for any purpose,” U.S. District Judge Paul Maloney wrote in his July 31 order, dismissing a lawsuit filed by Viridis laboratories against the the Michigan Cannabis Regulatory Agency (CRA)
Michigan, it appears, has a thriving, state-sanctioned contraband market. In June, nearly 700 licensed marijuana stores sold almost $260 million worth of cannabis products throughout the state, on pace to surpass $3 billion annually.
Michigan’s cannabis market is thriving, with licensed dispensaries reporting record-breaking sales of $276.7 million in July 2023. This surpassed the previous record set in June and contributed to a total of $1.7 billion in cannabis sales for the first seven months of the year, a 37% increase compared to the same period in 2022. Michigan is on track to reach $2.9 billion in sales this year, potentially making it the second-largest cannabis market in the US, after California.
Despite selling less flower in July, higher prices resulted in increased revenue. Flower accounted for 46.5% of adult-use sales, followed by vape cartridges (19%), concentrates (14.7%), and infused edibles (10%). While the average price for flower decreased compared to the previous year, selling more cannabis has helped combat price compression in the industry. Michigan’s demand for cannabis is the highest among adult-use states, with an average monthly spend of $23.42 per capita.
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Michigan’s largest-ever marijuana recall is at the center of a court matter that the public is forbidden from attending.
The case focuses on Cannabis Regulatory Agency accusations that Viridis Laboratories, one of the largest marijuana safety testing labs in the state, produced inaccurate test results related to potentially harmful contaminants, and inflated THC potency data. Viridis has denied the claims and filed its own lawsuit against the CRA, accusing the regulator of abusing its power and unfairly targeting the safety lab.
“Without having the proceedings being published, it’s possible a lot of things may remain hidden from public view and I don’t think that’s democracy,” said marijuana insider Rick Thompson, who is the executive director of theNational Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML)of Michigan,
Attorney General Dana Nessel’s office is representing the CRA.
A marijuana recall will proceed in part after a judge denied a testing company’s request for a preliminary injunction for a recall of products tested by one of its labs, but allowed it for the other.
The split decision from Michigan Court of Claims Judge Christopher Murray came Friday after Murray heard more than six hours of testimony Wednesday and Thursday.
Viridis Laboratories, which said the recall affected about 60 to 70 percent of the state’s cannabis products, sued the MRA saying the state was “unjustified, prejudiced and retaliatory.”
A lot of them have lost a lot of money and they’re angry.”
Murray’s opinion Friday said the regulatory agency relied on retesting of product tested at Viridis, which is located in Lansing, but not Viridis North, which is located in Bay City.
“Yet, the recall bulletin expressly states in the first sentence that the MRA ‘has identified inaccurate and/or unreliable results of products tested by safety compliance facilities Viridis North, LLC and Viridis Laboratories, LLC.'” Murray wrote. “As to Viridis North, that does not appear to be accurate, as everyone has agreed that no samples from Veridis (sic) North were included in the random samples re-tested prior to the recall, and which in part led to the recall.”
The Judge blocked the state’s recall as it pertains to Viridis North but allowed it to continue for Viridis as further litigation continues.
The judge acknowledged the Marijuana Regulatory Agency “undoubtedly” believes the recall of both Viridis and Viridis North was necessary to protect the public.
The company applauded the decision in a statement, saying it struck down “approximately half” of the state’s recall.
“While we maintain that the entire recall was completely without merit, we applaud the Court for at least reversing the MRA’s faulty decision to recall products tested at Viridis Bay City,” said Kevin Blair, an attorney with Honigman. “This ill-advised recall has caused irreparable harm not only to Viridis but to growers, retailers and consumers throughout the state.”
After spending his career helping prosecute people for marijuana Greg Michaud now cares how safe the marijuana is to his next generation of client$.
The laboratories claim the recall affected 64,000 pounds of flower valued at retail prices at over $229 million
The state had “immediately implemented actions to comply with the court’s order,” said David Harns, spokesman for the Marijuana Regulatory Agency.
“Public safety concerns are one of the main purposes and duties of the MRA, and undoubtedly it believes the recall of both Viridis and Viridis North was necessary to protect the public,” Murray said in his 13-page opinion and order.
“Due to the ongoing litigation and investigations, we will not be able to comment further beyond what is published on our website,” Harns said.
It’s been said that 18 people complained of “mild allergic reactions” and other health concerns, up to hospitalization, after consuming recalled marijuana from Michigan, a state licensing officials testified last week.
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Here’s a list of some documents, videos and news reports.
STATE OF MICHIGAN COURT OF CLAIMS CASE ID 21-000219-MB REGISTER OF ACTIONS
Update to 11/17/21 Notification of Marijuana Product Recall
The Marijuana Regulatory Agency has received an opinion and order from the State of Michigan Court of Claims regarding the November 17, 2021 marijuana product recall.
Pursuant to the Court’s order, effective immediately, the recall “as it pertains to Viridis North, LLC” has been enjoined. The MRA is required to comply with this order.
Therefore, the MRA will release the administrative holds on all products tested by Viridis North, LLC that were included in the recall. This includes any products that have been subsequently retested, regardless of whether those retesting results were passing or failing.
DISCLAIMER This post may contain re-posted content, opinions, comments, ads, third party posts, outdated information, posts from disgruntled persons, posts from those with agendas and general internet BS. Therefore…Before you believe anything on the internet regarding anything – do your research on Official Government and State Sites, Call the Michigan State Police, Check the State Attorney General Website and Consult an Attorney – Use Your Brain.
A marijuana lab licensed in Michigan is suing the Marijuana Regulatory Agency (MRA) over a recall that impacted nearly $230 million worth and 64,000 pounds of marijuana products in the state.
Michigan Court of Claims Judge Christopher M. Murray on Monday appeared to scold the MRA for its lack of clear communication about the matter.
Issued on Nov. 17, the recall involved more than 400 retail shops, and their customers, were impacted in some way.
Viridis Laboratories, which operates two separately licensed labs one being in Bay City and another in Lansing claim the recall is politically motivated. Because Viridis is so successful, handling up to 70% of all marijuana testing in the state, the MRA wants to “level the playing field,” according to the Viridis lawsuit filed in the Michigan Court of Claims on Nov. 22. The lawsuit also alleged the recall may be retribution for a formal administrative complaint Viridis filed Oct. 25 against the MRA, in part, for questions Viridis faced over its testing methods that regularly produce THC potency results in excess of 30%.
Cannabis with higher potency generally fetches higher prices from retail customers.
Viridis founders include three former Michigan State Police Forensic Division employees: Greg Michaud, Todd Welch and Michele Glinn.
The Viridis complaint was filed a day before MRA inspectors were expected to begin on-site audits at the Viridis lab locations.
The MRA issued a recall on most marijuana products Viridis labs tested between Aug. 10 and Nov. 16, calling the labs results “inaccurate” or “unreliable,”. It said the products must undergo new microbial testing, which looks for pathogens, yeast and mold.
Glinn, who is also Viridis’ chief science officer, testified Wednesday and said there was mass confusion after the recall. Her office was initially told they were cleared to retest recalled product, but the MRA was telling customers the opposite.
Glinn said her staff later worked through Thanksgiving weekend to comply with a checklist of demands from the MRA to improve the lab testing methods and get full clearance to continue operations.
Exhibits filed in the Court of Claims by Viridis, including emails exchanges with the MRA and results of on-site audits, identified significant procedural flaws in past testing methods. Viridis failed to keep logs necessary to validate test procedures, passed moldy samples that auditors identified as contaminated, failed to calibrate equipment as regularly as required and possessed untagged samples.
In order to test for the presence or growth of certain yeast, molds or pathogens, samples are placed in incubators for various lengths of time, usually between 24 and 72 hours, within designated temperature ranges.
The MRA audit found that Viridis labs weren’t using logs to track when samples were placed into and removed from incubators. It also found incubators weren’t keeping samples at the proper temperatures.
The lab personnel confirmed there were no logs, which Viridis argues are not required. Without logs, it’s impossible to tell when a sample was placed in the incubator, and a sample is more likely to pass testing if it is not stored for the full incubation period.
The recall occurred three weeks after the audits were conducted.
The MRA provided three options to retailers, growers and processors with recalled marijuana, none of them cheap: Destroy the product, have the product retested or send the product back to the license source so they may destroy or retest the marijuana. In the meantime, all of the recalled marijuana was placed on hold and unable to be sold.
DISCLAIMER This post may contain re-posted content, opinions, comments, ads, third party posts, outdated information, posts from disgruntled persons, posts from those with agendas and general internet BS. Therefore…Before you believe anything on the internet regarding anything – do your research on Official Government and State Sites, Call the Michigan State Police, Check the State Attorney General Website and Consult an Attorney – Use Your Brain.
