“The agency is now elevating public awareness of this Order as a precautionary measure.”

The Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission is amplifying a quarantine order that it put in place for ACK Natural on Nantucket last year. In attempt to raise awareness beyond the small island, the CCC issued the following notice:

The Commission is alerting patients and consumers to its quarantine order (Order), issued October 18, 2021, mandating that ACK Natural, LLC, a colocated medical- and adult-use licensee, recall all products with unverifiable mycotoxin test results sold to its consumers and patients. Mycotoxins are contaminants that licensees are required to screen for to uphold public health, safety, and welfare. The Commission’s quarantine order succeeded an Administrative Hold, issued on October 4, 2021, which restrained ACK Natural, LLC from selling, transporting, transferring, or destroying any Marijuana or Marijuana Product with unverifiable mycotoxin testing results. The licensee, which commenced operations in July 2021, voluntarily closed its dispensary and retail store to the public in October 2021.

Though those state “actions required … ACK Natural … to immediately post the document to all public entrances of its establishment, … the Commission continues to actively monitor the licensee’s compliance with the conditions of the Order including the licensee’s Standard Operating Procedures relative to product recalls and notification to the public.” “To date,” they report, “no related illnesses have been reported to the Commission,” but “ACK Natural recently disclosed that there are quarantined product packages for which verifiable test results cannot be produced because they were fully sold.”

The quarantine order includes a play-by-play with doozies like this one:

On or around July 1, 2021, during a review of Certificates of Analysis (“COAs”) pertaining to Respondent’s Marijuana  testing laboratory results, Commission Investigations Manager Tim Barwise (“Barwise”) discovered that no Mycotoxin  tests were reported. Upon review of Respondent’s SOPs, Barwise determined that references to Mycotoxin testing procedures were missing. Barwise notified Respondent by email of the need to test its products for Mycotoxins consistent with the contaminant testing protocol. Barwise asked the Respondent and to amend its SOPs accordingly.

So basically, if someone for some reason has weed that they bought months ago still sitting around (never a problem around these parts, but hey, you never know) then you’ll want to contact the appropriate party: “The agency is now elevating public awareness of this Order as a precautionary measure so that patients and consumers who purchased Marijuana and/or Marijuana Products from the licensee know that they should not consume them and ensure proper storage, or make arrangements with ACK Natural, LLC to return recalled products.”

No doubt there are more than a few entities and people to blame for this, but certainly one finger can be pointed at ridiculous federal laws, which actually prevent dispensaries in the middle of the ocean from testing their products in the same way that everyone else does. As the CCC noted in a media release, “[Nantucket] Island licensees are subject to modified testing protocols because they are prevented by federal Marijuana prohibition to transport Marijuana and Marijuana Products to the ISO-accredited Independent Testing Laboratories currently located on mainland Massachusetts. There are currently no ISO-accredited Independent Testing Laboratories located on Nantucket. However, island licensees are still required to test products in a manner that adequately protects the public health, safety, and welfare.”

Total insanity, but not surprising.

Does it sound like you or someone you know may have been affected? “Any patient or consumer who has purchased product from ACK Natural, LLC and is not able to make arrangements to return recalled product should contact the business at (508) 901-5225 or info@acknat.com, or the Commission at (774) 415-0200 or Commission@CCCMass.com.”