Washington’s recreational marijuana industry has been completely safe and free from pesticides since being legalized in 2012. Colorado has experienced many cases of recalls do to unexpected hazardous materials in their products. On February 12th, Evergreen Herbal, a Washington based cannabis wholesaler, announced the first ever recall of a marijuana product in Washington state.
Evergreen Herbal announced that their CBD edible products containing Dama oil were to be recalled. This includes their Hibiscus Quencher, Strawberry Quencher, and CBD Dark Chocolate 420 Bar manufactured before November 12, 2015.
This was a voluntary recall, meaning that Evergreen Herbal stepped up for the safety of their consumers by recalling a few products they thought might even have the potential of unsafe pesticides. Evergreen Herbal found that two of their producers, New Leaf Enterprises and BMF Washington had traces of harmful pesticides in their products.
Upon further investigation, New Leaf Enterprises found that small traces of residual pesticides were being passed on from the mother plant, which was purchased from the medical marijuana market. The medical marijuana market does not have strong rules about the use of these harmful chemicals, leading to the sale and contamination of New Leaf’s products. New Leaf was slapped with a $2500 fine and a good lesson in where their plants come from.
On the other hand, BMF Washington was found actively using pesticides in their growing process. “Of BMF’s 17 pesticides that the LCB investigated, 12 were in fact prohibited and were being used directly as part of the cultivation process”-ganjapreneur.com. BMF was also hit with a $2500 dollar fine, but has a lot of rethinking to do about how they grow the good stuff.
Recreational marijuana growers and producers have a ton of responsibility to keep the blossoming industry safe for the consumers. Even though no one got sick from the products, Evergreen Herbal’s commitment to safe marijuana products forced the voluntary recall. This recall shows how the recreational marijuana industry is committed to the safety of their consumers.
Read more about the recall here.
Photo: Lena via Flickr
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