Lansing — An additional 1,300 medical marijuana vaping products have been recalled in Michigan due to the presence of vitamin E acetate in the vape cartridges.
The product was sold largely in October and November by a provisioning center that had transferred the product from its temporary operation to its licensed facility, said David Harns, a spokesman for the Marijuana Regulatory Agency.
Vitamin E acetate is used as a cutting agent in marijuana vaping products. While it is usually harmless when applied topically, it can “interfere with normal lung functioning” when inhaled, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The failed January testing of Plan B Wellness cartridges involved an initial batch of 9,380 vape cartridges, about 1,360 of which were sold in October and November, Harns said. The remaining 8,000 cartridges that failed testing will be destroyed.
People who may have purchased the vape cartridges sold by Plan B Wellness at 20101 8 Mile Road in Detroit between Oct. 3 and Nov. 16 and on Jan. 16 can return their product to the facility.
Customers who have already used the product and experienced adverse reactions can contact the state at MRA-Enforcement@michigan.gov or at (517) 284-8599.
The products recalled include Savage Stick 1G Concentrate, 1g-Savage-Blackberry Kush Cartridge, 1g-Savage-GG#4 Cartridge, and 1g-Savage-Runtz Cartridge.
Several medical marijuana facilities in Michigan operated without a license in the regulated market last year because of a court order allowing them to continue selling marijuana while the state processed their license applications.
When those facilities eventually gained an operating license, they were able to transfer their product to their new license and register it in the state tracking system. In order to sell the transferred product, however, the provisioning centers had to obtain a written waiver from customers.
The vaping cartridges sold by Plan B Wellness were among some of those transferred products that were sold in the regulated market. They were pulled in November, when the state recalled more than 60,000 vaping cartridges and halted marijuana vaping sales, Harns said.
To start selling vaping stock again, businesses were required to test their cartridges for vitamin E acetate. When Plan B Wellness retested its cartridges this month, its stock failed because of the presence of vitamin E acetate, Harns said.