Michigan marijuana processor’s license pulled after untagged product found in trash bags
The Michigan Cannabis Regulatory Agency has suspended the license of cannabis processor Candid Labs — which does business as Layercake Farms 2 and is located in Corunna, near Owosso — after agency staff observed several bags, plants and jars filled with cannabis products that were not entered into the state’s tracking system.
The agency’s formal complaint said that agency staff visited Candid Labs’ medical grower facility to discuss the malfunctioning of its video surveillance system. When they entered the video room, they observed that 38 cameras were inoperable and showing black screens. CRA staff were able to observe some video footage, but the footage cut to a black screen several times for long periods of time, the complaint said.
During multiple visits to Candid Labs’ grow operation and processing facility, located at 1850 Parmenter Road, agency staff observed several mature marijuana plants inside a van located on the grounds of the facility that were untagged, trash bags filled to the top with marijuana product that were also untagged and jars labeled with “Labyrinth Xtracts Ultra Fine Distillate Oil” and a “Hempire State Growers Hudson Valley New York,” which weren’t tagged and filled with what appeared to be marijuana distillate, a liquid extract of a cannabis plant that’s commonly used in vape cartridges and edibles.
CRA staff asked Candid Labs’ employees to confirm the source of the distillate and they said it came from biomass — the remaining leaves, stalks and stems on a cannabis plant — but after the CRA tested the distillate, the results revealed that the biomass could not have been used to create the distillate. Candid Labs was unable to provide a credible explanation for this discrepancy, according to a news release.
“The conduct alleged in the formal complaints is a risk to public health and safety and must not happen in Michigan’s regulated marijuana industry and market,” Brian Hanna, executive director of the CRA, said Friday in a news release.
An emailed request seeking comment from a Candid Labs’ representative was not immediately answered Friday afternoon.
It wasn’t immediately known Friday under what brand names Candid Labs’ products are sold or where. The Free Press was unable to find a website for the processor or any products sold under its name on third-party sites.
In response to a question about how consumers can identify Candid Labs’ products, David Harns, a spokesperson for the CRA, said: “While the CRA has no authority to recall product from the illicit market, Michigan cannabis consumers should rest assured that if we have any evidence that untested or unsafe product has made its way to consumers in the regulated market, we would make that known.”
The suspension of Candid Labs’ licenses follows another action taken by the CRA in November to suspend the license of the marijuana dispensary Green Culture in Flint. The agency recalled some of the products sold at Green Culture after it tested them and found they contained unacceptable levels of banned pesticides, heavy metals, mold and bacteria.
