Michigan faces health risks from tainted medical marijuana

The recalls of six batches of medical marijuana available on the state’s regulated market since January have prompted industry and health expert concerns about continuing to let caregivers grow and create pot products to meet a shortage in the licensed market.

More than 50 pounds of medical marijuana product were recalled in January from provisioning centers in Detroit, Lansing, Jackson, Kalamazoo and Ypsilanti for issues such as chemical residue, E. coli, arsenic, cadmium and Salmonella. The majority of the 43 products failing the testing were caregiver grown, the state has said.

Despite the recalls, the state Medical Marihuana Licensing Board approved a resolution in mid-January allowing licensed facilities to purchase medical marijuana from caregivers through March 31 in an effort to meet an industry shortage while newly licensed growers prepare their first harvests. The state’s testing of caregiver products sold at provisioning centers lasted two weeks, from early to mid-January.

The potential for contaminated product to slip through the licensed system for lack of testing could pose a risk to patients, in particular those with compromised immune systems, said Jamie Alan, an assistant professor in Michigan State University’s Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology. [Read more at The Detroit News]