Massachusetts cannabis regulators fine companies for record-keeping, pesticide violations

The Cannabis Control Commission fined two of the largest marijuana companies operating in Massachusetts on Thursday for negligent behavior around the use of pesticides and record-keeping procedures.

The violations against Ascend Wellness and Curaleaf add to a growing list of enforcement actions the state regulatory body has issued this year to hold the industry accountable for flouting the rules, amid mounting criticism of the agency and allegations that it has sometimes been slow to act. Both the violations announced Thursday were initially self-reported by the companies.

Regulators fined Curaleaf $80,000 for a “systemic problem of not following best practices to limit contamination” from pesticides in its Amesbury and Webster cultivation facilities as far back as 2021. The commission found that Curaleaf allowed doors to stay open improperly, failed to seal gaps in doorways and ducts, and permitted behavior that led to multiple pesticide detections, including at least three contaminated cannabis samples.

The Connecticut-based company, which has marijuana stores in Provincetown, Oxford, and Ware, is now under a six-month probation, during which it must report any positive pesticide detections immediately to the commission. The agency can also require Curaleaf retest any product with elevated pesticide levels with an agency-approved testing laboratory. [Read More @ The Boston Globe]