Nevada Authorities Investigate Three Dispensaries For Selling Contaminated Flower

The Nevada Cannabis Compliance Board (CCB) has begun investigating three state dispensaries for selling a product that twice failed microbial testing.

According to the CCB, it and the state Department of Taxation issued a directive on March 5 to all three dispensaries to immediately stop selling the product, Cherry OG F3, which had failed lab testing for yeast and mold, coliforms, Enterobacteriaceae, and Aspergillus.

The retailers were also instructed to destroy or return any samples to the original cultivator. 

But despite the CCB’s order, it appears the three dispensaries retained their supply of Cherry OG and began selling the product again in May.

Many of the molds and bacteria detected on the Cherry product can be harmful to human health. Aspergillus fungi, for example, can produce a type of carcinogenic mycotoxin and acute exposure can be fatal in large doses, as the toxin can cause liver failure.

As of yet, though, the CCB are unaware of any reports of consumer illness from the product.

According to the state cannabis regulator, some 375 grams of the Cherry OG product were sold between May 19 and June 29 this year across the three dispensaries: Waveseer of Las Vegas (Jenny’s Dispensary), Paradise Wellness Center (Las Vegas ReLeaf), and Desert Aire Wellness (Sahara Wellness).

The CCB has advised those who have purchased the product to avoid consuming it. The product itself can be recognized from its source package number #1A404030000076F000006649.

The CCB became the official regulator of the state’s cannabis industry on July 1 of this year. Since then, it has regulated the licensing and operations of the state’s cannabis companies.