Maggie’s Farms Products Recalled

Published September 18th, 2024 at 12:00 am, Last Updated September 18th, 2024 at 8:27 am

Last week, New Mexico marijuana regulators ordered a recall on flower after samples tested positive for a banned pesticide. The contaminated flower had been shipped to retailers across the state between March and August. Now the state is considering taking action against the producers who grew it.

The New Mexico Cannabis Control Division (CCD) released a consumer health and safety advisory last week, informing consumers that wholesale marijuana flower sold by WH Agriculture, doing business as Maggie’s Farms, tested positive for pyrethrins, a pesticide exceeding the legal limits placed by the state’s Pesticide Control Act.

According to the CCD, the products were sold between March 6 and Aug. 1 at various dispensaries across the state, including R. Greenleaf, House of Blaze and Everest Apothecary. They were also sold to manufacturer Loud Cloud Labs.

What Happened?

In a recall notice, the CCD said it was notified by a lab in November that flower produced in a Maggie’s Farms facility tested positive for prohibited pyrethrins. The division asked the company on Aug. 30 to provide documentation proving that its flower met the permissible action levels for the prohibited pyrethrins.

The state said Maggie’s Farms failed to produce any documentation and had no choice but to issue the recall order. The CCD ordered all products which may have made it to market containing any amount of the tainted flower be destroyed. Retailers and manufacturers were also ordered to inform their customers if they had potentially purchased the products.

In an email to The Paper., CCD Director Todd Stevens said the recall was necessary for public safety.

“Ensuring New Mexicans have access to safe cannabis products is a fundamental objective of the regulatory framework established by the Cannabis Control Division,” he said. “It is crucial to prevent prohibited pesticides from entering regulated cannabis products.”

Stevens has been the head of the CCD for over a year. He told The Paper. in 2023 that compliance enforcement was his top priority. Since he took the job, the division has amped up its inspections. In July, he told The Paper. that the division had already conducted 1,600 inspections in the first half of 2024, compared to 1,300 in all of 2023. This current recall appears to be part of that continued effort.

“The CCD remains committed to enforcing regulations designed to ensure that cannabis available to the public is free of potentially harmful substances, including unapproved pesticides,” Stevens says.

Is It Dangerous?

Pyrethrins are naturally occurring chemicals found in certain chrysanthemum flowers that are extracted and used as an insecticide. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), pyrethrins can be slightly toxic to humans at high levels.

People are exposed to these compounds in very small amounts nearly everyday. The average daily intake of permethrin — the most frequently used synthetic pyrethrin in the U.S. — for a 150-pound adult male is estimated at about 3.2 micrograms per day, according to the CDC. This value is about 1,000 times less than the acceptable daily intake derived by the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Health Organization.

The consumer health and safety advisory doesn’t indicate how much pyrethrins were used in the recalled products, but it does say that the amount exceeded legal limits.

Signs of pyrethrins exposure include wheezing, coughing, difficulty breathing and irritation of the airways. But the CCD says that no health-related complaints have been reported regarding the products, so far.

Stevens says it’s important for producers to take note and comply with pesticide regulations.

“Cannabis, like other agricultural products, is susceptible to pests and diseases, and it is the responsibility of licensees to comply with all applicable laws and regulations regarding pesticide use,” he says. “Licensees are required to only utilize pesticides that have been registered and approved for use in cannabis cultivation. This approach is essential in maintaining consumer safety and preserving the integrity of the regulated cannabis market.”

Last week, the CCD issued a Notice of Contemplated Action to Maggie’s Farms that lists 17 violations, including failure to maintain chain of custody procedures, improper conduct while using the track and trace system, failing to conduct quality testing, failure to comply with the Pesticide Control Act, failure to properly destroy product that failed testing, unsanitary and cluttered facility conditions, operating without a local permit and growing “significantly more” plants than permitted by their license.

Maggie’s Farms will now have to request a formal hearing with the CCD or face fines, suspension or even the revocation of its license.

Which Products?

The CCD identified the following Albuquerque dispensaries as having carried the contaminated products. For a more complete list, visit the Regulation and Licensing Department website: