2 RCMP Seizures And Recall: A Sign Of Things To Come Under New Medical Marijuana Regulations?
ottawacitizen.com
On April 18, Health Canada announced that one of the newly licensed producers, Greenleaf Medicinals of Duncan, B.C., was voluntarily recalling one batch of Purple Kush following an inspection by federal regulators.
The inspectors “identified issues with processes that affect quality control, good production practices and oversight — this includes potential residues from use of unregistered pesticides, unsanitary production conditions, concerns with testing standards and/or control of plant materials,” Health Canada said in a followup statement.
Greenleaf, which has voluntarily stopped selling its product, told Health Canada that 63 clients were affected by the recall and that it is working with other licensed producers to find a supply of marijuana for them, the statement said.
Those clients who received the recalled marijuana have been told to stop using it and to return the product to Greenleaf via “secure courier” or destroy the product at home by adding water to it, mixing it with cat litter to mask the odour and then throwing it in the trash. There have been no reports of illness, officials said.
For now, the company’s name has been taken off a Health Canada website listing licensed producers authorized to sell to patients. It will remain off the list until the problems have been fixed and the company has been re-inspected, Health Canada said.
Attempts to reach Greenleaf representatives were unsuccessful. Its website and social media pages have been taken down. A listed phone number doesn’t work.
Getting a production licence from Health Canada involves volumes of paperwork and culminates in a physical inspection of the growing facility. Closner said his on-site inspection lasted several hours and involved a review of thousands of pages of company protocols and an examination of security systems.
Once a company is licensed to grow, they continue to be subject to audits and followup inspections.
Meanwhile, the Mounties remain tight-lipped about the seizures on March 31 of two shipments of medical marijuana products at Kelowna International Airport that were bound for two Ontario licensed producers, Toronto-based Mettrum Ltd. and Smiths Falls-based Tweed Marijuana Inc.
Company officials have previously said that they received the necessary approvals from federal regulators to import the products, and Health Canada confirms this.
But the RCMP have said that what was contained in the shipments did not match what was outlined in the paperwork. Police continue to refuse to say what the prohibited items were.
Under Health Canada rules, personal-production licence holders had until March 31 to sell their existing marijuana plants or seeds — so-called “starting materials” — to the newly licensed commercial producers as long as they had Health Canada’s approval. The sale of dried or finished marijuana products was forbidden.
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