(This is an abridged version of a story that appears in the January issue of Marijuana Business Magazine.)
If you’re in the business of cultivating marijuana, it’s more than likely a product recall is in your future.
Tainted products are turning up more and more in other sectors of the cannabis industry, and with villains such as mold and yeast threatening marijuana plants, it’s wise for cultivators to be ready for a recall.
One way to get ahead of the curve is to have a plan in place to efficiently and safely get tainted products off the market.
Cultivators must be positioned to pinpoint and set apart the afflicted plants, be aware of whom to contact when complaints come in about tainted products and be prepared to show that a plan is in place to deal with the issue – and be able to implement it.
“Unlike traditional growers and producers, there is no federal regulatory framework where direct guidance can be harvested,” Andy Romanow, a stakeholder in the Denver office of the Hall Estill law firm, told Marijuana Business Magazine.
“Most states have some requirement that a (marijuana) licensee submit, in connection with its application, a recall plan,” he said.
Romanow and other cannabis industry observers spoke with Marijuana Business magazine about how cannabis cultivators and businesses in other sectors of the industry can put together a plan to ease the pain of a potential product recall, including:
- The steps to create a plan.
- How to determine whether to pull product from the market.
- Identifying a recall situation.
- Readying your company to work with local regulators.
- Dealing with contaminated product.
Once the appropriate bases are covered for a marijuana recall, the next step is to retain customers. Advice for that is available here.
