According to a report in the Los Angeles Times on June 25th, the California cannabis regulatory agency issued its first recall notice for a marijuana product on Tuesday (the 25th) due to pesticide contamination issues.
The product that has been requested to be removed from shelves is a "Orange Cookies" flavored West Coast Cure electronic pod with a production date in September. The state government has issued a recall stating that this e-cigarette contains a chemical substance (the pesticide chlorfenapyr) in levels exceeding the safety threshold.
The California Department of Cannabis Control did not immediately disclose how many of the batch of e-cigarettes are still remaining on store shelves, but they did release a list online of 169 locations across the state where the product is being sold.
The safety certificate for this product comes from a laboratory whose license has been revoked - Verity Analytics. The laboratory report states that this batch of e-cigarettes consists of nearly 5000 units.
The "Orange Cookies" batch is just one of twelve batches of products produced by West Coast Cure in September, totaling over 62,000 units with various flavors. Last fall, private laboratory Infinite Chemical Analysis tested these products and reported to state regulatory agencies that the pesticide levels exceeded state safety limits. However, these products had previously been certified as safe by other laboratories.
In November, Infinite Chemical Analysis filed a complaint with the state government regarding a batch of "Orange Cookies." In addition to Chlorfenapyr, the lab also found two additional chemical substances in the batch - Myclobutanil (a growth hormone with levels exceeding permitted limits) and Pyrimethanil (four times the California safety standard).
The state regulatory agency did not explain why products containing additional chemicals were not labeled. The state government also did not immediately respond to questions about why it took seven months to recall a product reported to have safety issues.
Before Tuesday, regulatory agencies had only issued recalls related to pesticides for two products that were complained about.
West Coast Cure is the fourth largest cannabis brand in California. Its parent company, Shield Management Group, was fined $3.2 million by California regulators this year after a surprise inspection revealed the company failed to prevent product tampering, such as storing cannabis products in unmonitored shipping containers in parking lots. The company also could not provide the state government with required footage proving that products were not tampered with before testing in laboratories or distribution.
Logan Wasserman, co-founder of West Coast Cure, has not immediately responded to requests for comment on the recall.
A PR company issued a statement on behalf of the company to The New York Times on Tuesday.
Every product we release into the market has undergone testing by national authorized laboratories. We strive for excellence, doing the right thing for our customers and community, which is at the core of our values. We remain steadfast in fulfilling our mission to provide thoroughly tested excellent products and uphold everyone's trust in us.
On Monday, Infinite and Anresco filed a lawsuit in federal court against 13 independent testing labs in the cannabis industry, accusing them of manipulating test results to win business while putting consumer health at risk. The civil lawsuit cites product safety certificates issued by some labs for later found contaminated products, as well as findings from investigations by the cannabis regulatory agency referenced in disciplinary reports.
Infinite provided testing support for the class action lawsuit brought against West Coast Cure in Orange County Superior Court on June 14th. The lawsuit demands remedies for 23 e-cigarette flavors suspected of being contaminated with pesticides, including the "Orange Cookies" product recalled on Tuesday.
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