Maine
Maine issues its first-ever recall of tainted recreational marijuana
A Maine agency is recalling a handful of recreational marijuana products sold between Aug. 27 and Sept. 9 after they failed the office’s yeast and mold audit tests.
It’s the first recall of recreational cannabis products since the state’s recreational market launched in 2020, the Maine Office of Cannabis Policy said.
The recall, announced in a news release Tuesday evening, impacts one strain of cannabis flower and three strains of pre-rolls, all of which were produced by Cannabis Cured, a cultivator and retailer headquartered in Fairfield.
The recall applies to 1-gram pre-rolls and five pre-roll packs of the strain GG4 sold between Aug. 27 and Sept. 9; 1/8-ounce packages of flower and 1-gram pre-rolls of a strain called Jelly Donutz, which were sold from Aug. 28 to Sept. 9; and five pre-roll packs of the strain Portal, sold from Aug. 28 to Sept. 3, according to the release.
John Hudak, director of the Office of Cannabis Policy, declined to share specific details about the products in an email Tuesday night, citing an ongoing investigation. But he said the state closely tracks cannabis testing data for irregularities and performs additional tests when necessary.
Hudak said the failure threshold for yeast or mold contamination is 1,000 colony-forming units per gram, “which is the threshold recommended by the American Herbal Pharmacopoeia for cannabis.”
The cannabis office said consumers who bought the recalled products should dispose of them or return them to the store of purchase.
“Inhaling cannabis containing unsafe levels of mold can lead to sinus issues, allergies, headaches, dizziness, or fatigue,” the office said in the release. “Any consumer who has ingested these products and is experiencing symptoms or adverse reactions should contact their physician immediately.”
The defective products were sold at seven Cannabis Cured retail locations, plus Sweet Relief, a recreational dispensary in Northport.
A worker who answered the phone at Cannabis Cured’s headquarters around 6 p.m. Tuesday declined to answer questions about the recall, directing a reporter to a corporate email address. Emailed questions about the company’s internal testing process and policies were not immediately answered.
John Lorenz, owner of Sweet Relief, said he first heard about problems with the products Monday and immediately took them off the shelf. Reached by phone Tuesday evening, Lorenz said his store had stocked the three varieties of pre-rolls, which arrived a little over a week earlier, but they had only been available for sale for a few days.
Lorenz said recreational cannabis products are closely monitored and tracked “from seed to tested bud,” and that every unit his shop received has been accounted for.
“They don’t just go into a trash barrel. I don’t just get to smoke them myself,” Lorenz said. “They were taken off the shelf.”
Lorenz said a few of the pre-rolls were sold, but he did not offer specific numbers.
The office does not have the authority to compel retailers to issue refunds for recalled products, Hudak said, adding that “we would encourage those customers to inquire” with specific retailers when returning products.
Lorenz said he would be happy to issue refunds, but that customers would need to return to his store with the original packaging – even if empty – since that label contains tracking and batch information.
In addition to Sweet Relief, the recalled products were sold at Cannabis Cured’s adult-use retail locations in Bangor, Carrabassett Valley, Damariscotta, Eliot, Fairfield, Stratton and Thomaston, according to the release. The company’s Portland location was not listed.
Many Maine municipalities will open cooling centers this week with the National Weather Service issuing a variety of heat advisories covering the next few days.
The Maine DEP also issued an air quality alert for Wednesday with ground-level ozone expected to reach levels that are unhealthy for sensitive groups.
All of York County, interior Cumberland and Androscoggin counties, and the southern half of Oxford County will fall under an extreme heat warning from 11 a.m. Wednesday to 8 p.m. Friday.
The warning calls for “dangerously hot conditions” that could feature heat index values of up to 110 degrees, with overnight lows only expected to fall into the 70s, according to the weather service’s office in Gray.
The rest of the state — save northern Aroostook, Piscataquis and Somerset counties — falls under a heat advisory from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Wednesday. However, the weather service has also placed much of the state under an extreme heat watch for Thursday.
Heat index values, which measure how hot it feels to the human body when relative humidity is combined with the air temperature, are expected to reach up to 104 degrees during the heat advisory period, the weather service warns. They could reach 110 degrees Thursday, when the extreme heat watch is in effect.
Northern Oxford and Franklin counties, and central Somerset County, can expect a heat index value of up to 99 degrees Wednesday, according to the weather service.
The weather service advises people to drink plenty of fluids, stay in air-conditioned rooms when possible, avoid extended periods in the sun and check up on relatives and neighbors. It also warns not to leave young children and pets in unattended vehicles, as “car interiors will reach lethal temperatures in a matter of minutes.”
Cooling Centers
The Maine Department of Environmental Protection has also issued an air quality alert from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Wednesday along the coast from Kittery to Acadia National Park. The agency warns that ground-level ozone concentrations are expected to reach levels that are unhealthy for sensitive groups.
Ozone levels may reach “moderate levels” further inland, according to the Maine DEP, including in all of Androscoggin and Kennebec counties, as well as parts of Cumberland, Knox, Lincoln, Penobscot, Sagadahoc, Waldo, Washington and York counties.
Elevated ozone levels can pose a risk to children, older adults and people suffering from respiratory or heart diseases, according to the Maine DEP. Anyone exerting themselves outdoors may also experience health effects, which could include coughing, shortness of breath, throat irritation and mild chest pain.
Ozone levels were already climbing in southern New England on Tuesday, according to the Maine DEP, and winds are expected to bring those conditions to Maine on Wednesday.
The Maine DEP recommends that vulnerable populations avoid strenuous outdoor activities, keep windows closed, and circulate indoor air with fans or air conditioners. Those with asthma are also advised to keep quick-relief medication handy.
Particle pollution levels are also expected to be moderate across the state on Wednesday due to wildfire smoke, the Maine DEP said in its announcement Tuesday. Wildfires in Colorado, which have claimed the lives of three firefighters, had burned nearly 90,000 acres as of Tuesday, according to the Denver Post.
Maine could face up to $50 million in penalties next year due to errors in its payments for federal food benefits under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
Newly released data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture find that Maine’s error rate last year was nearly 11%, the bulk of which were overpayments. That’s in line with the U.S. average. But starting in October of next year, states with error rates above 6% must cover a portion of the SNAP benefits.
Anna Korsen, executive director of Full Plates, Full Potential, said the overpayments aren’t fraud — they’re human error. She said this new cost-shifting policy enacted last year under the Trump administration further complicates the SNAP application process.
“Instead, we could make this program more accessible and more efficient,” Korsen said. “And that would reduce the number of errors and also ensure that Mainers who are eligible for SNAP have access to it.”
She’s urging Congress to delay or reverse the policy under the farm bill that’s currently under consideration.
Maine’s Department of Health and Human Services said it’s taking steps to reduce the error rate, including modernizing its systems and hiring an additional 40 eligibility specialists.
This story appears through a media partnership with Maine Public.
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