Unsafe levels of chlorfenapyr present in cannabis vape cartridges have led the Maine Office of Cannabis Policy to issue a recall for products marketed by Yani Maine.
“This recall is a result of an investigation into a consumer complaint about an adverse health reaction,” the cannabis regulator said in a statement Monday.”
“OCP’s investigation included testing on the batch of vape cartridges alleged to have caused the adverse reaction,” OCP said. “The products are being recalled due to those testing results showing unsafe levels of the pesticide chlorfenapyr.”
The cannabis regulator said inhaling cannabis containing unsafe levels of chlorfenapyr can lead to high fever, sweating, nausea, vomiting, and/or altered mental status.
Yani is a brand name of a product created by Norco Outdoor Cannabis LLC, which operates both indoor and outdoor grow facilities in Warren. Norco also operates its own manufacturing facility where cured plants are extracted into live resin for vape cartridges.
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The recall affects primarily Cannabis Cured locations throughout Maine, but also Belvidere Farm in Rockland, Cannabis Haven locations in Auburn, Augusta, Lewiston, and Waterville, as well as Garden Lites 420 in Peru, GreenLife Guilford, GreenLife Milo, Hive, LLC in Chelsea, OMG Cannabis Co. in Portland, Royal Leaf Apothecary in Presque Isle, and The Joint.me in Portland.
The strain flagged by OCP is Watermelon Chimera, sold as 0.5-gram live resin cartridges and 1-gram cartridges. All of the locations affected by the recall were adult recreational dispensaries.
Chlorfenapyr—the pesticide flagged in Maine’s recall—also appears in Chinese-labeled pesticide “fumigant” blends that law enforcement has documented at illicit grow operations in both California and Maine.
California authorities first identified Chinese-made neurotoxic pesticide cocktails at large outdoor “hoop house” grows and traced shipments to other states, including Maine, via labels and shipping records, according to a law enforcement briefing.
The Maine Wire’s investigative reporting first identified a hoop house in Monmouth that was, according to law enforcement sources, receiving shipments from the same location in California linked to shipments of pesticide and fungicide fumigants.
Weeks later, the same mylar bags of toxins that had been found throughout California’s illegal Chinese marijuana grows were identified at a black-market grow in Somerset County.
However, the pesticide is commonly available over the Internet and through some U.S. grow supply stores.
Although chlorfenapyr is registered for use within the United States, it is not registered for use on any products that might be consumed by humans.
