When Was Maine’s First Cannabis Recall?

On September 10th, the Office of Maine Cannabis Policy proudly announced Cannabis Cured as its “first yeast and mold recreational product recall” and said it “…made possible due to testing and tracking requirement” because if you remember from previous articles the largest difference between Maine Medical Cannabis Program and its Adult Use is the fact Adult use is highly regulated, with mandatory testing and mandatory.

Maine OCP’s agenda for several years now, is to force similar/same regulations into a medical program that’s been evolving since the late 1990s. But small farmers and patients have actively blocked mandatory testing and Metrc during legislative sessions. To be clear, it’s not that we don’t think testing could be useful, but it shouldn’t be MANDATED by the state when there are concerns about testing costs, reliability, and accuracy all over this country.

And even this very RECALL validates those concerns. But let’s ask the first question, can there be or has there ever been a “recall” in Maine’s medical cannabis program, which isn’t tracked? While Maine OCP would like you to think it isn’t possible, IT IS, AND IT HAS AT LEAST TWICE.

First on September 5th 2015 the Portland Press Herald reported, the giant multiple state operator (MSO) Acreage Holdings company, Wellness Connection of Maine had a recall due to “levels of microbes present” that poses a health risk due to mold.

The article stated about 500 medical patients were affected. What is important to point out here, as well, 2 years prior in 2013, Wellness Connection of Maine was fined $18,000 for using pesticides and still operates as an Adult use store still till this day in 2024. Despiste what the current Office of Cannabis policy feels, it is very possible to do a product recall in cannabis without state mandated tracking and testing. 

Here’s another example,on Feb 18th 2022, a local medical caregiver storefront, Hazy Hill Farms. Posted this message on there social medias & taped the same on their door: 

“RECALL STATEMENT:On February 14, 2022, a patient informed us of an issue with the 5ml containers that we sell containing one gram of THC concentrates. Specifically, the patient informed us that after opening and closing the lid to the jars holding the concentrate several times, small pieces of material from the lid began to sheer off and fall into the product itself.

“Incredibly alarmed by this report, we immediately tested several random samples of the jars. In some but not all of these tests we observed the same defect where, after opening and closing the lid as few as six times, the lids were discarding small pieces of material into the concentrate. We also promptly sent samples of the concentrate to Maine-certified lab Nova Analytics.”

“Testing has confirmed that the concentrate itself is not tainted, so long as the packaging remains unopened. Nevertheless, based on this discovery, we are immediately recalling all 5ml containers containing one gram of THC concentrate sold by Hazy Hill Farm between November 1, 2021 and February 14, 2022, the date when we began using this particular packaging for this product to the date when the product was removed from our shelves.”

“Any patient of Hazy Hill Farm who still has in their possession a 5ml container containing a gram of THC concentrate purchased from us at any point between November 1, 2021 and February 14, 2022 should not consume the product but should return it to our retail store at 484 Congress Street in Portland. You will receive full store credit on the spot.”

“As always, we are committed to providing safe tested cannabis to all of our patients. We’re sorry for any alarm and inconvenience and will be happy to talk this over with any of you who have additional questions. You can call or text us at 207-417-0000 from 11AM-7PM seven days a week.”

I am using these medical recalls as proof that it is 100% possible for a cannabis program to have a cannabis “recall” without tracking the product with the state mandated Metrc. Most recalls, in any business or industry, are complaint driven, so even if a cannabis product isn’t necessarily tracked if your shit is mids you will hear about it nowadays online or just straight up lack customers. The Medical cannabis community, especially in Maine, is a self cleaning ecosystem but there are cockroaches in every ecosystem. 

Back in 2022 several different Adult use grow employees reached out to me expressing their concerns of they grow concerns, I posted these photos to my instagram expressing my concerns, but it wasn’t until this year in September that Maine OCP did its first recall, which has the state asking the department, “Where have you been?”

Because people have been expressing their concerns about the adult use market for years, but Maine OCP was too busy trying to slam policy down the medical programs throat to even actually care about the “safety” they say they care so much about. But in reality their own agenda has actually taken over as true top priority not “public safety” 

Now the elephant in the room, how is it possible that a highly regulated program, with mandated testing and tracking, still can allow tainted products to slide by? Doesn’t that just prove the concerns of the Medical programs over the years that these over burdensome regulations are actually protecting no one and just lining the pockets of Metrc and Lab owners?

So you’re telling me the inspectors never saw ANY signs of mold in any adult use grow? I think we all know by now TESTED DOESN’T MEAN SAFE OR CLEAN. Especially with remediation machines vendors at what seems like every major cannabis event, it’s clear the cannabis test can be altered by techniques and/or the right amount of money. So I do think the medical caregivers and patients over the years voicing their concerns are extremely vaid.

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Will We Eventually Have Psilocybin Dispensaries… Should We?

Because if there are multiple ways to beat the mandatory testing system with money, we should rethink the system right? Especially since it’s for “public safety” right? But again at this point we all know “public safety” is just an umbrella term to control cannabis and people as much as possible, because even though cannabis has been around for 10,000 plus years there has yet to be a death caused by cannabis alone. But yet somehow it is a public safety issue?

And where is the PUBLIC HEALTH DATA that shows what cannabis good, bad or ugly does to our bodies enough to force public policy based off our health when people have been using this plant as medicine for longer than anyone reading this has been alive.

Written By Derek Shirley

More work from Derek about his Maine Cannabis Coverage here at Beard Bros Pharms A Look Inside Maine’s Medical and Adult Use Cannabis Markets.

Derek Shirley was born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. At the age of 19, he received a felony for 4 ounces of cannabis. After, he became a “cannabis nomad”  living in Ohio, Arizona, and Maine, which he now calls home, and lives with his wife Sequoia and son Haze.

Being a cannabis nomad had its advantages, like relying on all markets for his medical cannabis needs which gives him a unique perspective of the cannabis markets. Currently, Derek operates People Not Parties Consulting, which helps local people and small businesses navigate their local and state governments without picking a political party specializing in protecting and preserving the small medical cannabis farmers of Maine. For fun, Derek enjoys screen printing and making cannabis memes under the pseudonym @gettinghighwithcats on IG.