L.A. Marijuana Company Pays $500,000 Fine

LOS ANGELES - Aug. 10, 2020 - PRLog -- In #California, regulators sue popular # LA-based marijuana brand Lowell #Farms for more than half a #million dollars over unlicensed cannabis processing. The #lawsuit, which is the first civil enforcement case against a licensed marijuana business in the state, comes after a warehouse complex raid in San Luis Obispo implicated Lowell Farms and CFAM Management Group. During the 2019 raid, authorities seized more than 17,000 pre-rolls, 7,000 jars of marijuana, and 1,400 pounds of cannabis product. Lowell Farms #executives admitted to unlicensed processing over the four months prior to the bust, while CFAM was charged with illegally subletting to unlicensed #cannabis businesses. The defendants have been ordered to pay 500,000 dollars in fines, and 46,000 to cover #legal fees and #marijuana disposal costs.

Regulators allow for the resale of approximately 45 million dollars worth of cannabis #vape products which were #quarantined since #November due to the nationwide vaping-related lung illness outbreak last year. While the state's ban on vape product sales was lifted in December, it applied only to new #inventory, and not the more than 600,000 existing products. Because testing by the Cannabis Control #Commission suggests lead levels may increase in vape products over time, the reclaimed merchandise must be re-tested for heavy metals and Vitamin E acetate, the likely culprit of the #lung disease, before being #sold in the state's adult use or medical cannabis markets.

Former #Baltimore delegate heavily involved in creating the state's MMJ program faces two years in #prison after accepting nearly 34,000 dollars in #bribes in exchange for legislative favors. 69-year-old Democrat #Cheryl Glenn admitted to charges of wire fraud and bribery back in January, after resigning from office in December. The veteran lawmaker took a total of five separate payments to carry out #actions such as #voting in favor of increasing the number of medical cannabis grower and processor licenses to benefit an out-of-state company. Glenn must now report to prison by September 21st and #pay more than 18,000 #dollars in restitution.

Individual patients to import non-registered medical cannabis products continue to rise in #Brazil, surpassing 18,000 by the end of March. Nearly 3,000 #patients received approvals during the first #quarter of 2020, more than doubling from the same period last year. Though authorizations from the country's National Sanitary #Surveillance Agency are permitted for products containing #THC, #CBD medications represent a majority of the imports. While this type of individual access was intended to be used only in exceptional cases, it has now become common as a result of a ban on domestic cultivation and lack of commercialization #approval for imported products. Even still, Brazil has become the largest #MMJ market in Latin America.

Written by Jacqui Verdura and Micah Tatum
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