The division and commission must determine how the recalled product was created, as well as whether the process poses any risk to the public’s health.
By Rebecca Rivas, Missouri Independent
Last week, the state reversed its cannabis product recall and allowed dispensaries to restock them. Since early August, Missouri had required companies to store them.
In a notice dated October 20, the Missouri Division of Cannabis Regulation stated that, after a examination of product tracking records regulators could verify that “some of marijuana products that are being recalled contain THC that is solely sourced in Missouri from marijuana grown on the Missouri regulated markets.”
It is still unclear what will happen to the 45,000 other products that were recalled on 14 August, and the dozens of marijuana-related businesses who would suffer a severe financial loss if they had to destroy the products.
Delta Extraction, a marijuana producer based in Robertsonville, has requested that the Administrative Hearing Commission revoke the suspension of the company’s licence and roll back the recall.
If the division and the company cannot reach an agreement by then, a trial will be scheduled at the beginning of the month.
The division and commission are concerned with the question of how the products were made, and whether this process is harmful to the public’s health.
Delta Extraction may not be ordered to destroy 45,000 products if it can prove that the products were made safely. It is possible that the company will still face a heavy fine and possibly even a license revocation for adding hemp products to Missouri-grown marijuana.
On October 25, the commissioner who oversees Delta’s appeal against the license suspension and recall issued a protective Order that allows certain records to be confidential and closed.
The order specifies that these records may include “trade secrets, financial and proprietary information”, as well as investigations conducted by the division against other licensees.
Imported product
The THC distillate or concentrate that is at the heart of this recall was made in part from hemp.
In August, the state accused this company of adding “chemically modified hemp-derived ‘converted cannabinoids'” to marijuana products.
Hemp, unlike marijuana, has very few psychoactive properties by nature. This is why hemp was removed from the federal controlled substances list in the 2018 Farm Bill. Since then, companies have raced to find ways to produce delta-9 THC – the main psychoactive element of marijuana – using hemp plants.
Most commonly, delta-9 THC is obtained from hemp by converting CBD to delta-9 THC. CBD is the most common cannabinoid found in hemp.
Cannabis lab experts claim that the process could involve a number of chemicals, which Missouri marijuana laboratories do not test for. This means that the labs are unable to verify that the product is safe.
Because hemp is no more a controlled substance in Missouri, or the federal government, no agency monitors the production of THC chemically converted from hemp.
The lab in Florida, where Delta purchased a large amount of product, told The Independent that the distillate was not created with harsh chemicals as the state suspected but through the same extraction method used in the regulated cannabis market.
J.J. Coombs of Arvida Labs Fort Lauderdale, the owner and CEO, walked The Independent, through the process for making the concentrated THC A, which doesn’t become intoxicating until you heat it, when it becomes delta-9 THC.
If you eat raw marijuana flowers, for example, there is only a tiny amount of delta-9-THC but lots of THC A.
Coombs explained that it’s a relatively new process which involves breeding hemp plants with higher concentrations THC-A, a potentially intoxicating compound.
Coombs explained that hemp contains very little THCA. It takes approximately 90 pounds of the plant to produce 1 kilogram of THC A isolate or powder.
Coombs explained that it’s understandable for people to be confused about Arvida Labs product being produced using a chemical process, as most people are unaware labs can extract significant amounts of THC A from hemp plants.
This is a process that neither the state or Delta’s leaders were able to explain in the appeals proceedings of the company, as to how it differs from the CBD conversion.
Delta’s top leadership admitted that at one time, its products were converted. This was a shocking revelation for businesses who thought Delta’s distillate was made from 100 percent marijuana.
Lab experts say that labs are not testing for pesticides in cannabis laboratories, which could be present in hemp that is imported from outside of the United States.
Coombs stated that Arvida bought the hemp from Texas, Tennessee, and Kentucky farmers who have learned how to breed plants with higher concentrations THC-A using federally approved strains. Coombs stated that any pesticide used in these states would have been safe if tested by a laboratory.
Green Precision Analytics was one of the laboratories that Delta Extraction utilized to test the distillate which is at the core of the recall. Anthony David, owner and chief operational officer of the lab, previously told The Independent that he was unaware Delta had imported hemp into the products.
David said that there was also no trace of THC from a chemical process. David says that he usually can tell the difference between the curves in chromatography. But he couldn’t see it in this case.
Coombs explained that this was because the extraction process used was normal.
Coombs stated that marijuana companies purchasing Delta’s distillate shouldn’t feel “duped”, because the same extraction method used to get THC A from hemp was used to obtain delta-9 THC.
He said, “It is the exact same thing.” There’s no difference. “Hemp is cannabis with no delta-9-THC.”
This article was originally published by Missouri Independent.
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Photo by National Institute of Standards and Technology.
The article Missouri Allows some recalled marijuana products to return to store shelves first appeared on Marijuana Moment.
