Michigan’s cannabis regulator is planning a crackdown on illegal products

Michigan’s top cannabis regulator Tuesday said the state plans to “expose” companies operating in the legal marijuana market that have engaged in illegal practices and sold illegal products.

The Detroit News reported that Brian Hanna, acting director of the Michigan Cannabis Regulatory Agency, told the assembled media that “the agency is planning actions that will expose bad actors and serve as a warning to other regulated companies.”

“If someone backs down or cheats, we want to expose that and take a strong enforcement approach,” Hanna told reporters, as quoted by the Detroit News.

The publication reported that some of the issues the regulator intends to address are “proper labeling and registration of marijuana products in the statewide system and proper maintenance of required cameras — both requirements that, if abandoned, could result in proliferation of illegal weed in regulated areas allow facilities and snarl government efforts to identify it.

Hanna, who took over as executive director of the agency in September after Andrew Brisbo stepped down in August, told reporters on Tuesday that “his focus in his first 90 days as executive director is to engage with stakeholders to better understand what’s going on.” what’s working in the industry and what isn’t, and taking action against illegal cannabis products on the market, including marijunana grown and processed in other states,” according to the Detroit News. He also said that “the department is hiring six new supervisors, two inspectors, two analysts and a laboratory specialist, planning further unannounced inspections and taking a second look at the department’s current operating procedures as they arise from the pandemic the agency has had a bulk of.” deducted from their field staff.”

Michigan voters legalized recreational cannabis use when they approved a ballot measure in 2018. Adult marijuana sales began in late 2019.

Earlier this year, the state consolidated the regulatory agencies that oversee the processing and distribution of cannabis there, resulting in the newly created Cannabis Regulatory Agency.

Before the reorganization, hemp was regulated by the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD), while the Marijuana Regulatory Agency handled cannabis.

Now the Cannabis Regulatory Agency oversees both.

“The consolidation of several government roles into the newly designated Cannabis Regulatory Agency will help us continue to grow our economy and create jobs,” Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said in announcing the changes in February. “And, quite frankly, legal cannabis entrepreneurship, cultivation, and use is helping us put Michiganders first by channeling the big windfall of tax revenue from this new industry to encourage bigger, bolder investments in local… schools, roads and first responders.”

Earlier this month, the Cannabis Regulatory Agency imposed a 30-day suspension on a Detroit marijuana dealer after it “performed an unannounced compliance visit to the licensed supply center and observed multiple bags, backpacks and duffel bags containing suspect marijuana products doing so.” have not attached the tracking identification numbers assigned by the nationwide surveillance system (METRC).”

After advising the retailer “not to sell or destroy the unlabeled products until the investigation is complete and guidance is provided,” regulators “returned to the supply center facility and inquired about the unlabeled marijuana products,” only to determine that the remaining unmarked products were destroyed.

“The cannabis regulator has a legal responsibility to protect the health, safety and welfare of the public,” said agency spokesman David Harns. “Our licensees must follow all rules and laws that govern the cannabis industry. Unbranded marijuana products and inability to provide video footage is simply unacceptable.”