Fluoride Action Network

Bifenthrin: State suspends retail pot sales by Georgetown firm

Source: The Daily News of Newburyport | February 27th, 2018
Industry type: Pesticides

 

Note from FAN: See adverse effects here. The molecular formula for Bifenthrin is

BOSTON – The state Department of Public Health has suspended retail sales of all medical marijuana products at Healthy Pharms Inc., which has a retail location and cultivation operation in Georgetown.

Retail sales were suspended Friday after Healthy Pharms notified DPH, as mandated, of a failed lab test report that indicated the presence of the pesticide bifenthrin in a sample batch of product, according to a press release from the state.

Bifenthrin is an insecticide in the pyrethroid family. While bifenthrin is a common pesticide used in food products, Registered Marijuana Dispensaries — or RMDs — are banned from using pesticides on marijuana grown at their facilities.

An RMD is required to notify DPH within 72 hours of any laboratory test result that indicates contamination which cannot be remediated.

Healthy Pharms grows marijuana at a single location in Georgetown and is licensed for the retail sale of pot at locations in Georgetown and Cambridge.

In announcing the indefinite suspension, DPH said, “Following the failed test report, Healthy Pharms immediately quarantined all affected product containing pesticide as required by state regulations,” according to Marc Nascarella, DPH’s chief toxicologist.

Nascarella said marijuana dispensaries can’t sell any product that does not meet DPH testing standards.

“DPH will be coordinating with the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources, the agency responsible for pesticide enforcement and regulation in Massachusetts, to further look into this issue. We want to ensure that Healthy Pharms takes the appropriate corrective action to prevent this from happening in the future,” he said in the release.

Healthy Pharms informed DPH that no medical marijuana from this batch of product, which contains pesticide, was sold to patients.

*Original article online at http://www.newburyportnews.com/news/local_news/state-suspends-retail-pot-sales-by-georgetown-firm/article_48bb4eff-355e-5605-a18f-daf576c4a32b.html