New Mexico regulators have issued a medical cannabis product recall after investigating a patient complaint.
The New Mexico Cannabis Control Division (CCD) issued the recall March 24 upon discovering that Sacred Garden, a licensed medical cannabis operator in the state, has been distributing products containing levels of mold above regulatory levels, according to a press release.
The contaminated products tested at 35,000 Colony Forming Units (CFUs) per gram, according to the press release, and 1,000 CFU is the maximum allowable level under state law.
Regulators have ordered Sacred Garden to cease and desist operations at its production and manufacturing site. The company also operates medical cannabis dispensaries in Albuquerque, Las Cruces, Ruidoso and Santa Fe.
The recalled products, including cannabis flower, pre-rolls and food products, are from cannabis cultivars named “Snow Cone” and “Protégé ’78” and were sold to patients at Sacred Garden’s dispensary locations over the past several weeks.
The lot numbers of the recalled products can be found here.
State records show that the affected products passed their mandatory pre-sale inspection and that the contamination occurred after the products hit store shelves, possibly due to improper storage, according to the press release.
The CCD immediately launched an investigation into the products upon receiving a report from a medical cannabis patient about possibly contaminated flower. A CCD investigator performed a site visit at one of Sacred Garden’s retail outlets and gathered samples from the same batch that was sold to the patient. The samples were tested at an Albuquerque lab, and all product from Sacred Garden’s manufacturing and production facility that has not been tested will not be cleared for sale until the CCD deems it to be safe.
The CCD advises patients who purchased the affected cultivars at Sacred Garden in the past month to check their products’ labels for the listed lot numbers, and if the numbers match, they should dispose of the product or return it to the store where it was purchased.
Patients who experience adverse health effects from using the affected products are advised to contact a medical provider immediately.
Under New Mexico law, cannabis operators must have product samples tested by a state-certified laboratory prior to the batch being sold to the state’s patient base, according to the press release. Samples undergo a visual inspection, and flower is tested for homogeneity, microbials, residual pesticides and potency.