Michigan Report: Cannabis Regulatory Agency Recalls Products, October Sales Decrease

Michigan's Cannabis Regulatory Agency (CRA) announced it recalled some products sold by a local cannabis dispensary in Flint, MI, which also received a summary suspension of its medical and recreational marijuana licenses.

What Happened:
Green Culture’s products were tested by the agency, which found they contained unacceptable levels of banned pesticides, heavy metals, mold and bacteria.

More than three-quarters of the products tested at the CRA's request contained "paclobutrazol (a banned pesticide), nickel (a heavy metal), aspergillus (a type of mold), or total coliforms (bacteria) in amounts exceeding state limits," according to an agency news release.

Most of them, labeled “MoonRock blunt,” include pre-rolled joints sold or given away as promotional items to consumers from February to September 2022. "This conduct is a risk to public health and safety and is completely unacceptable,” said Brian Hanna, acting executive director of the CRA, who issued a suspension of the cannabis store licenses, “it is my intention to pursue revocation of these licenses," he added.

However, Green Culture representatives admitted to the CRA that they obtained products from ACF Labs, which is not licensed by the state of Michigan as a medical or recreational marijuana facility, reported the Detroit Free Press.

According to the CRA, the dispensary sold or transferred nearly 18,000 ACF Labs products to patients or consumers without proof of full compliance and without proper labeling and labeling.

MI Cannabis Market

While in October compared to September, state cannabis sales fell 1.2% and increased 28.1% from a year ago to $209.4 million, according to Alan Brochstein, CFA and founder of New Cannabis Ventures and 420 Investor.

Medical sales fell “57.2% from a year ago to $15.1 million, down 9.4% sequentially, and adult-use sales expanded 51.4% year-over-year to $194.4 million, down 0.5% sequentially with one more day than in September,” noted the state's marijuana regulatory Agency which breaks out sales by medical and adult-use.

Image by New Cannabis Ventures

Michigan breaks out sales by category and provides pricing detail by category, for both medical and adult use.

The analyst noted as supply continues to expand, "flower pricing for adult-use has seen a dramatic decline. In October, the average price of $1642 per pound fell 6.6% sequentially and fell 49.6% from a year ago," Brochstein said.

Cannabis sales expanded 82.1% in 2021 to $1.79 billion and are up 26.9% thus far in 2022 at $1.87 billion, according to the report.

Nonetheless, the program "should continue to expand ahead as supply becomes more available and as distribution expands," Brochstein concluded.

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Image by Pixabay // Edited by Benzinga