CA issued 63 cannabis recalls, 500 product embargoes in 2024

California’s chief cannabis regulator on Wednesday morning released information about enforcement and consumer-safety efforts the agency initiated in 2024, a year marked by widespread accounts of pesticides and other contaminants found in commercial marijuana products statewide.The Department of Cannabis Control (DCC) issued 481 embargoes last year, resulting in hundreds of thousands of marijuana products and raw materials removed from the supply chain until internal investigations deemed them safe or mandated their destruction, according to a news release.

ADVERTISEMENT “DCC is using every resource at its disposal to ensure cannabis products meet safety standards before they reach the marketplace,” the agency’s director, Nicole Elliott, said in a statement.“We are constantly learning and refining our investigative and recall processes to make California’s market stronger and safer while building upon a compliance model that consumers can trust.” This is the first time the agency has released embargo figures, MJBizDaily confirmed.

Recalls up amid pesticide outbreak The DCC’s product investigations team in 2024 issued 63 recall notices that included 259 products, and nearly 25,000 individual units.MJBizDaily in early June highlighted the department’s efforts in ramping up cannabis product recalls and health warnings to consumers, prompted primarily at the time by the presence of aspergillus, a fungus that can grow on cannabis plants.

Later that month, a report by the Los Angeles Times and WeedWeek highlighted the presence of pesticides in several regulated products.That report was an important catalyst that led to more recalls, according to a source with direct knowledge of the agency’s structure and enforcement mechanisms.

ADVERTISEMENT The source said other factors that prompted more recalls included: Routine DCC visits to marijuana businesses...