Faked lab results force a marijuana recall that now threatens the future of the business
After word got out that a marijuana lab director with Sequoia Analytical Labs had fudged lab results, California was forced to issue a recall of hundreds of products. The fallout of the ordeal is beginning to take shape and it now appears that the future of California’s cannabis industry may be in dire straits.
The lab director, who has since been fired, falsified data related to pesticide content in marijuana samples sent to the lab for testing. Once his actions were acknowledged, California’s Bureau of Cannabis Control (BCC) announced that thousands of pounds of marijuana products from 29 different businesses would have to be destroyed. In total, the recall affected 848 batches of marijuana that had been tested by Sequoia.
The BCC said in issuing the recall, “Any cannabis goods returned from a retailer’s inventory or remaining in your inventory may be destroyed, or maybe re-sampled and re-tested after obtaining approval from the bureau. Any cannabis goods from these batches may not be released to a retailer without re-sampling and re-testing.” According to Hezekiah Allen, the chairman of a marijuana co-op comprised of around 100 licensed growers, the recall is going to have a huge impact on the industry. He pointed out that the amount businesses must pay in taxes and licenses was already a burden, and the destruction of products is only going to exacerbate the situation. He explained, “[The recall is] yet another cut in the death-by-a-thousand-paper-cuts scenario that is playing out for so many producers in the state. The regulated market will only thrive when producers and consumers have confidence in the labs. Right now that confidence is something we don’t have.”
Hopefully, the recall will only be a temporary setback and companies will be able to recover. It may take a little time, but the marijuana industry has already proven itself to be resilient and should be able to bounce back.
