Judge Partially Rules In Favor Of Michigan Testing Lab, Limits Cannabis Recall To Half

In November, Michigan regulators issued a recall of marijuana products that had passed safety assessments at testing facilities over the previous several months - a move that impacted products sold at more than 400 stores across the state.

The marijuana testing facility at the center of the debacle filed a lawsuit against the Marijuana Regulatory Agency (MRA) just days after the regulatory body detected "inaccurate and/or unreliable results" of all products tested by Viridis Laboratories and Viridis North between Aug. 10 and Nov. 16.

According to the lawsuit, the recall resulted in an estimated $229 million disruption in the industry, CBS News reported at the time.

On Friday, a split decision from Michigan Court of Claims Judge Christopher Murray resulted in the testing laboratory winning half of its claim against state regulators.

According to the Detroit Free Press, Judge Murray ruled that state marijuana regulators likely acted arbitrarily in ordering a recall against Viridis North in Bay City.

Judge Murray stressed in his 13-page opinion that "public safety concerns are one of the main purposes and duties of the MRA, and undoubtedly it believes the recall of both Viridis and Viridis North was necessary to protect the public.”

However, “when there is no evidence that Viridis North’s testing also fit into that category, the safety concerns are reduced," the judge added.

Due to the fact that all retested samples, which were randomly selected, were from Viridis Laboratories in Lansing and not Viridis North in Bay City, "the absence of any retesting of products at Viridis North eliminates one of the two factual bases for issuing the recall," Judge Murray added.

According to an MRA spokesperson, following the court’s order, the agency immediately released the administrative holds on all products tested by Viridis North.

“While we maintain that the entire recall was completely without merit, we applaud the court for at least reversing the MRA’s faulty decision to recall products tested at Viridis Bay City,” said Kevin Blair, an attorney with Honigman LLP in the emailed statement.

Viridis Laboratories and Viridis North are separate limited liability companies, which share ownership - one in Bay City and another in Lansing.

Photo: Courtesy of Testalize.me on Unsplash