Department of Public Health Suspends Retail Sales at Medical Marijuana Dispensary Healthy Pharms
BOSTON – The Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH) has suspended retail sales of all medical marijuana products at Healthy Pharms, Inc., a Registered Marijuana Dispensary (RMD), until further notice.
Retail sales were suspended Friday, Feb. 23, after Healthy Pharms notified DPH, as mandated, of a failed lab test report that indicated the presence of the pesticide bifenthrin in a sample batch of product. Bifenthrin is an insecticide in the pyrethroid family. While bifenthrin is a common pesticide used in food products, RMDs are at this time prohibited from using pesticides on marijuana grown in their facilities. An RMD is required to notify DPH within 72 hours of any laboratory test result that indicates contamination that cannot be remediated.
Following the failed test report, Healthy Pharms immediately quarantined all affected product containing pesticide as required by state regulations,” said Marc Nascarella, DPH’s chief toxicologist. “RMDs cannot sell any product that does not meet DPH testing standards. DPH will be coordinating with the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources, the agency responsible for pesticide enforcement and regulation in Massachusetts, to further look into this issue. We want to ensure that Healthy Pharms takes the appropriate corrective action to prevent this from happening in the future.’’
Healthy Pharms has informed DPH that no medical marijuana from this batch of product, which contains pesticide, was sold to patients.
Healthy Pharms has a cultivation facility in Georgetown and retail locations in Georgetown and Cambridge. On average, Healthy Pharms supplies less than four percent of the medical marijuana in the state between its two retail sales locations. The RMD also sells edible and non-edible marijuana-infused products to two other RMDs – Theory Wellness (located in Bridgewater and Great Barrington) and Revolutionary Clinics (located in Somerville).
Currently, there are 22 RMDs open for sales across Massachusetts, serving more than 46,000 patients and over 5,100 personal caregivers.
For more information about the Medical Use of Marijuana Program, contact the Department of Public Health at 617-660-5370.
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