PASCAGOULA, Miss. (WLOX) – Cannabis dispensaries struggled to supply patients with medicine Thursday after the Mississippi State Department of Health (MSDH) announced an administrative pause on a large number of cannabis products.
The department cited a concern over regulatory standards. MSDH announced that the affected cannabis products cannot be sold and will undergo retesting to ensure safety.
In Pascagoula, the city’s first medical cannabis dispensary prepared for its grand opening amid the problem. What was meant to be a celebration turned into concern for The Herbalist’s owner James Stone, who says that the announcement came suddenly Wednesday.
“I get a call from the state telling me to pull all products from my shelves that were tested from Rapid Analytics,” he said. “From what I understand, Rapid Analytics is the largest tester in the state. The majority of my products are tested by them, and so are the other dispensaries from what I’m hearing. I’ve been scrambling around here since yesterday to figure out which items were tested from a different company and which ones I can sell and couldn’t sell.”
In the back stock room filled with cannabis stock, Stone estimated that 80% of his supplies could not be sold because of the issue. Some dispensaries did not open because many of the products could not be sold.
“They just called me and said to take them off the shelves,” he said. “They couldn’t get me any more information. I called all my points of contact and nobody could say anything.”
Stone added that he is concerned about what the outcome will be because he does not know if he will be financially responsible for replacing any stock that may be deemed unsafe.
“I don’t know if I’m going to have to have them disposed of or if I have to pay for the disposal. Am I on the hook for these losses or is it the testing facility or the growers? I really don’t know at this point.”
According to a press release received by WLOX News after inquiring about the problem, MSDH confirmed that no patients have reported sickness so far. When asked how long it will take to complete retesting, the health department could not give a definite timeline.
WLOX News also reached out to Rapid Analytics for comment. The company claimed it was not made aware of any specific issues from MSDH, and the company’s owner will travel to Jackson on Friday to get answers.
The Mississippi Medical Cannabis Program released the following statement:
To protect the health and safety of medical cannabis patients, an administrative hold has been placed on a large number of medical cannabis products until retesting can be conducted to ensure various products meet regulatory standards. The Mississippi Medical Cannabis Program is taking swift action to address the situation, with retesting being done as quickly as possible.
The Mississippi Medical Cannabis Program is committed to upholding the highest standards of product quality and patient safety. Please know that the MMCP is working diligently to resolve this matter and will continue to provide updated information as it becomes available. As retesting yields results that are within regulatory standards, administrative holds will be lifted with products being made available again through licensed medical cannabis dispensaries. Patients should stay in contact with their dispensary to see what products are available.
Back in the dispensary shop, customers still showed up for the grand opening and were supplied with products that were tested by a different company.
Customers of The Herbalist said they are happy they have a dispensary in Pascagoula and no longer have to make the long drive to Biloxi or Gulfport.
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Dispensary’s grand opening amid cannabis sale paused by health department – WLOX
