The Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission has fined Plymouth-based cannabis company M3 Ventures $50,000 after an employee lied about the firm’s pesticide use, according to a MassLive report. Commission Chairman Steven Hoffman indicated that the company has “rectified” the issue “in multiple ways.”
State inspectors had initially shut down the company’s dispensaries in Plymouth and Mashpee in December over its pesticide use but allowed them to reopen in April.
Inspectors discovered the prohibited pesticides at the company’s cultivation facility in November and interviewed the director of cultivation about its use. During a follow-up inspection the following month, company brass admitted that the cultivation director “misrepresented the use of pesticides,” leading to the closure and fines.
In response, the company split the cultivator director position into two jobs – cultivation operations manager and master grower – and has partnered with a national firm to help develop a plan for pest management using approved substances.
In addition to the fine, M3 was placed on administrative probation through the end of the year and is required to track and record its additive use daily.
Cannabis Control Commission Enforcement Counsel Paul Payer said during a public meeting on Thursday that the company has not violated state regulations since it reopened and the firm had taken the steps to comply with the settlement that “reflect the integrity” regulators require from licensees.
Last March, state regulators launched an investigation into two other companies – Sea Hunter Therapeutics and Acreage Holdings – into whether they flouted cannabis company ownership rules by using loopholes in state regulations to hide their affiliations with other companies through the use of shell companies. That case is ongoing.
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