Holistic Industries knew its marijuana-growing facility in Massachusetts had a mold problem in 2020 and 2021.
To sell its cannabis, Holistic had to have it tested under state health regulations aimed at keeping moldy marijuana off store shelves. The company figured out that a specific kind of lab test would still likely give its weed a passing score and asked the lab it hired to use those tests, Massachusetts cannabis regulators alleged this year.
The pot, despite smelling and tasting moldy, passed.
The Cannabis Control Commission investigated, and in April fined Holistic $200,000 and mandated it test with a state-contracted lab. It was not enough. In August, Holistic cannabis showed up moldy in stores, another lab’s tests showed, creating a potential public health hazard and highlighting lapses in the state’s marijuana testing system that may place consumers at risk.
A spokesman for the Maryland-based company said consumer safety is of “the utmost importance” and that, after a renovation, there is no active mold outbreak at Holistic’s cultivation facility in Monson, just east of Springfield.
But can customers trust the labels on their cannabis products that proclaim them properly tested? No, a Globe analysis suggests.
The Massachusetts testing system for the cannabis industry is poorly designed and fitfully enforced, leaving companies essentially free to shop around for favorable lab test results for potency and contaminant levels, a Globe review of data and interviews with industry insiders found. [Read More @ The Boston Globe]