Hartford Business Journal

14 HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | March 6, 2023 Bugs In Buds? As CT's marijuana industry preps for growth, cannabis quality comes into sharper focus By Skyler Frazer sfrazer@hartfordbusiness.com M edical marijuana customers over the years have raised numerous concerns over the quality of products they've purchased. Since the medical cannabis program's 2012 inception, 72 consumer complaints have been filed with the state Department of Consumer Protection (DCP), which regulates the industry. Many involved pricing and packaging issues, but several highlighted product inconsistency and quality concerns, according to regulatory filings obtained by the Hartford Business Journal through a Freedom of Information request. In more recent years, from August 2020 to August 2022, 16 complaints were filed against the state's four marijuana growers. One from December 2020 stood out. It detailed a medical cannabis customer who found small black bugs, later identified as rove beetles, in a flower container produced by Curaleaf, which operates a Simsbury grow facility. DCP investigated, records show, and concluded that Curaleaf introduced rove beetles to a cultivation room to mitigate fungus growth and gnats that pose a threat to cannabis crops. It's a pest management tactic not totally unfamiliar to the agriculture community, experts said, but the bugs should not end up in the final product purchased by consumers. Curaleaf responded at the time by immediately sequestering the remaining flower batch and notifying dispensaries to stop selling it, DCP records show. The company also analyzed all product returned by cannabis retailers and found only one additional rove beetle, records show. DCP in July 2021 fined Curaleaf $1,500 for the beetles ending up in the customer's flower container. That was the only monetary penalty issued against a Connecticut cannabis grower between August 2020 and August 2022, records show. While not a widespread issue, cannabis quality has been a conversation topic and area of concern for some consumers and state lawmakers, especially as the state's marijuana industry preps for a major growth spurt following the January launch of recreational sales. As the state's existing growers ramp-up production — and new cultivators enter the market — some want tighter quality controls and/ or more transparency around the growing process. State Rep. Robin E. Comey (D-Branford) has introduced a bill this legislative session that aims to address quality control and safety issues stemming from the amounts of mold and bacteria that may be present in marijuana. It's an issue that drew attention last year, when Connecticut adjusted the allowable amount of mold and yeast in medical cannabis to 100,000 colony-forming units per gram. Comey's bill would also address the mold and bacteria remediation methods currently allowed under state law. She said she's spoken to constituents who want more transparency from cannabis growers about how they prepare and test products. Another bill, backed by House Majority Leader Jason Rojas (D-East Hartford), would create a cannabis ombudsman who would serve as a liaison between regulators and the state's more than 48,000 medical marijuana patients, with the goal of improving product quality and safety, among other things. "That's why I supported the legalization of both recreational and medical cannabis — because I do think that we need some quality control," Comey said. "There are some concerns about how Connecticut has been testing for yeast and mold, and we've been watching the testing standards change over the past several years." While Curaleaf was the only company fined during the two-year period ending last August, the state's three other growers — Rocky Hill- based CTPharma, Advanced Grow Labs in West Haven and Watertown- based Theraplant — each faced at least one consumer complaint during that time period. Concerns were raised over loose plastic scraps and excess seeds, mold or mildew found in cannabis flower, and hair pressed into tablets, DCP records show. For example, two complaints A sea of cannabis flowers shown in Curaleaf's Simsbury grow facility. Robin Comey HBJ PHOTO | STEVE LASCHEVER

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