Viridis Laboratories continues to fight to keep cannabis users safe in Michigan

Todd W. Welch, Chief Operations Officer and founder of Viridis, emailed on June 17th with a statement of the company’s values ​​and the latest information that has come to light regarding the CRA.

“These allegations by the CRA against Viridis date back to last August and remain unfounded, unfounded and utterly devoid of science, facts and data,” the statement said. “We intend to defend our company against these false allegations during the trial and to demonstrate the vindictive and retaliatory nature of CRA’s actions, which are clearly designed to cause maximum disruption and harm.”

“Court-ordered proficiency test results held by Viridis and withheld by the CRA will directly contradict these findings, and we are confident that when all the facts come out, truth will prevail,” the statement continued. “We hope these lawsuits will pave the way for greater transparency, accountability and reform at the CRA. We hope that one day the CRA can fulfill its true mission, which is to advance patient and product safety, rather than unfairly targeting Michigan businesses trying to grow, compete and create jobs.”

The email also said nearly all of the company’s customers have returned, with an additional 63 new customers. The company supports testing of approximately 62% of the state’s flower.

The CRA (formerly called the MRA or Marijuana Regulatory Agency since April 2022) issued a recall on products tested by Viridis Laboratories and Viridis North in November 2021, claiming that Viridis products produced “inaccurate and/or reliable results.” ‘ contained, for products analyzed between August 10th and November 16th, 2021. This resulted in a recall with an estimated product value of $229 million.

The MRA claimed that Viridis’ testing methods were “unreliable” and “inaccurate,” to which Viridis responded on November 23 by filing a lawsuit against the MRA in the Court of Claims.

By December 3, the court ruled that the CRA must clear half of the accused products tested by Viridis North, LLC. Viridis attorney Kevin Blair praised the court’s decision, even though “the entire recall was completely unfounded.” “This unwise recall has irreparably harmed not only Viridis but also growers, retailers and consumers across the state. The MRA must be held fully accountable for violating state law, ignoring the advice of respected national experts, and massively disrupting Michigan’s cannabis industry,” he said in a press release.

Months later, in February 2022, more news came about the behavior of the CRA. Judge Thomas Cameron issued a court opinion that “the issuance of the recall against the Bay City facility, upon the court’s review of the records, was arbitrary and unfounded.”

Shortly thereafter, it was revealed that CRA had instructed its agents not to seize illegal cannabis found at CRA-licensed facilities. New evidence from CRA statements shared disturbing truths about the inner workings of the MRA when it comes to following its own policies.

In March, Senator Aric Nesbitt questioned the CRA and its management. “I think it was poorly communicated to your licensees and it seemed like they hadn’t thought through the implications for the broader market before reacting to the recall and I felt it was very poorly done and very poorly implemented in the recall.” clumsy,” Nesbitt told a Senate subcommittee on permitting and regulatory affairs/insurance and financial services.

Most recently, in May, the CRA filed formal complaints about the accuracy of Viridis’ THC test results. According to Greg Michaud, CEO of Viridis, he described that allegations by the CRA “remain baseless, unfounded and completely divorced from science, facts and data”.

In addition, Michaud shared that the CRA’s Inter-Laboratory Proficiency Test, obtained by court order, reveals some shocking findings about other laboratory testing facilities in Michigan. The test results aren’t public yet, but Welch’s email suggests more news will be announced soon.

Post a comment:

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *