An Ohio cannabis store owned by a small-scale marijuana multistate operator reopened last week after a brief health scare that law enforcement and the company believed was tied to vaporizers.
The state Division of Cannabis Control allowed Vext Science’s Herbal Wellness Center store in Jackson, Ohio, to reopen Sept. 17 after an investigation found no contaminants in cannabis products used by two “customers who experienced serious health effects,” agency spokesman Jaime Crawford told MJBizDaily on Wednesday.
However, products still remain on an administrative hold and cannot be sold pending further testing, Crawford added.
Beyond that, details are still scant.
What cannabis product sickened Ohio customers?
“The Division is not disclosing any health-related information nor product details since the products have not been shown to be related to any adverse health events,” Crawford said in an emailed statement.
“Because this is an ongoing investigation – and since the product in question has not shown to be contaminated via initial nor follow-up testing – the Division does not anticipate initiating a recall at this time,” he added.
Arizona-based Vext had voluntarily closed its Jackson store, one of six it operates in the billion-dollar state market, on Sept. 4 while an investigation played out.
At the time, Vext CEO Eric Offenberger said the company is “confident that our products are safe when used as intended.”
Offenberger could not be reached Wednesday. A number for the executive was disconnected.
Why did Ohio cannabis regulators ask a marijuana MSO to close a store?
The DCC had previously told MJBizDaily that the agency requested the store “immediately close after law enforcement contacted the Division regarding customers who experienced serious adverse health effects.”
Local law enforcement did not provide details when contacted by MJBizDaily.
Vext’s five other cannabis stores and its Tier 1 cultivation facility remained operational.
The following week, the company put its Vapen-branded cartridge products on a “precautionary hold” as they undergo a laboratory review.
Without identifying the products, the DCC’s Crawford said Wednesday that “the products in question remain on hold from being sold and quarantined while the Division awaits additional test results.”
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What is making cannabis users sick?
While serious adverse health effects tied to legal cannabis products are relatively rare, Vext’s situation in Ohio comes amid growing nationwide awareness of a still-mysterious complication.
Last month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that emergency room visits for cannabis hyperemesis syndrome, a condition associated with nausea and cyclical vomiting that often accompanies frequent cannabis use, increased from about 3.35 visits per 10,000 to 11.26 per 10,000.
Researchers have suggested that the condition is tied to mold that can be found in cannabis extracts at elevated levels. Extraction processes do not eliminate the mycotoxins.
A separate California study linked cannabis vaporizers specifically to the condition.
