Broken Coast Cannabis Ltd., a Vancouver Island-based commercial medical cannabis grower, has issued a recall for three batches of dried cannabis that made its way onto dispensary shelves last year, following a test of sample products from the grower by Health Canada, the national health department of Canada.
From The Globe and Mail website:
“The federal agency stated that no patients have reported getting sick from Broken Coast products and, in the recall notice, said the contaminants are unlikely to cause any adverse health consequences. However, the Globe recently profiled several medical-cannabis patients who faced extensive health problems they say were brought on by smoking tainted products sold by another grower subject to a similar recall.
“This new recall comes after federal inspectors visited in March and took a random sample of cannabis oil – which the company had been licensed to produce but not yet sell to patients. When the test results for that sample came back in July, Health Canada found trace amounts of two banned pesticides, myclobutanil and spinosad, according to a recall noticed posted to the department’s site Thursday. Inspectors then went back and took samples of dried cannabis leaves from the company’s Ladysmith, B.C., production site and found myclobutanil – whose manufacturer, Dow AgroSciences, does not consider safe to use on plants such as cannabis.
“…Those patients believe they have been affected by exposure to myclobutanil, a chemical used to kill mildew, and bifenazate, an insecticide prohibited for use on certain types of plants, including cannabis. When inhaled, myclobutanil enters the bloodstream directly through the lungs, without being broken down by the digestive system. No studies have been done to determine whether it is safe to be smoked, and Dow AgroSciences strictly warns against inhalation.”
While testing requirements prove to be an ire for both businesses and consumers, often preventing patients from receiving needed medicine or stifling growing entrepreneurship, it’s good to be reminded that the cannabis movement/industry has asked for regulatory oversight – and that’s ultimately a good thing for health and safety.
Where will Canada’s testing regulations fit in the future of the global cannabis industry? Come find out from the experts at the International Cannabis Business Conference, happening in cities world-wide, including Kauai, Hawaii, on December 1-4, 2017 and Vancouver, BC, Canada in June 2018.
