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Judge tosses lawsuits stemming from Michigan's largest-ever marijuana recall

www.mlive.com 12-01-2024 07:56 3 Minutes reading
LANSING, MI -- A Michigan Court of Claims judge on Jan. 2 dismissed two lawsuits linked to Michigan's enormous 64,000-pound, $229 million 2021 marijuana recall that impacted an estimated 60% of all cannabis products in the state. The dispute centers on the Michigan Cannabis Regulatory Agency's (CRA) Nov. 17, 2021 decision to recall any marijuana tested between Oct. 10 and Nov. 16, 2021 by Viridis Laboratories, a licensed safety lab tasked with ensuring cannabis products are safe for public consumption. The CRA issued the recall after noticing the Viridis lab in Lansing passed as safe marijuana that had previously failed testing for the presence of aspergillus, a potentially harmful type of mold. "We had started noticing in ... our statewide monitoring system that packages were failing for aspergillus and then being sent the next day to the (Viridis) laboratories, at which point they were being reported as passing without remediation by the grower," MRA Scientific and Legal Section Manager Claire Patterson testified on Dec. 2, 2021. If a product tests positive for aspergillus, the mold must be eradicated and the marijuana retested prior to sale. The CRA verified through subsequent testing by other licenses labs that Viridis had passed marijuana with aspergillus, which led the agency to distrusts the lab's results on many other marijuana products. The recall caused major disruption and unexpected costs throughout the market, as the CRA required all recalled marijuana be retested prior to sale. Viridis in its lawsuits accused the CRA and various employees of issuing the recall as part of a "vendetta," because they disliked that Viridis had such a large portion of the lab-testing market share. Virids sought court intervention on several fronts -- in state and federal court, as well as administrative complaints -- claiming CRA employees infringed on the company's right to due process and other violations, because it blocked sales without allowing Viridis an opportunity to contest the allegations. A Court of Claims judge previously agreed with a portion of Viridis' argument and reversed a part of the 2021 marijuana recall. Viridis operates two separate labs under individual licenses, one in Lansing and another in Bay City. The contaminated marijuana that was the basis for the original recall was tested in Lansing, however, the recall included marijuana tested in Bay City. A judge ruled the Bay City-tested marijuana should not be part of the recall and reversed it. One subsequent lawsuit made its way to the federal courts and was dismissed in August. The judge ruled that Viridis didn't have a constitutional right to due process, since marijuana is considered federally illegal contraband. The recent dismissal of two remaining state cases in the Court of Claims marks an end to most of the lawsuits. Viridis is still facing off with the CRA in Michigan's Office of Administrative Hearings and Rules court, which handles disputes involving state agencies. Ongoing hearings in that matter resume Jan. 22-24. Viridis attorneys say they intend to continue pursuing financial damages from the CRA through the courts. The company wants compensation for the sales it lost and costs it incurred, due to the recall. There is one unresolved lawsuit remaining in Ingham County Circuit Court. "We remain confident through the court process the facts and the truth will come to light and we can bring much needed accountability and transparency to the CRA and shine a spotlight on the state's efforts to intentionally harm Viridis' reputation and business," Viridis attorney David R. Russell with the Foster Swift Collins & Smith law firm said. CRA spokesman David Harns said: "As always, we respect the rulings of the judiciary as we continue to perform our regulatory duties." In addition to CRA concerns over marijuana contamination, the agency separately accused Viridis of artificially inflating THC potency results, which Viridis denies and is contesting in the state administrative courts. The level of THC in marijuana products can influence there value, as consumers are willing to pay higher prices for greater amounts of high-inducing THC.

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Jim Harbaugh, Michigan football national champions...
13.01.24 11:27
by mlive.com

Jim Harbaugh, Michigan football national champions parade through Ann Arbor

ANN ARBOR, MI - Shirtless 300-pound linemen. Cowboy hats. A Toucan Sam mascot, for some reason. Most importantly, accolades from Michigan football's national championship season, including running back Blake Corum's "Business is Finished" shirt. The Wolverines, fresh off Monday's College Football Playoff National Championship Game victory, paraded through Ann Arbor near campus on Saturday, Jan. 13, to celebrate the title with thousands of cheering fans. The parade started at 4 p.m. at President Santa Ono's house on South University, turned onto South State Street and ended after a little less than an hour at the team facility at Schembechler Hall. With police escorts bookending the parade, the celebration was led by the Michigan Marching Band only a couple of weeks removed from their performance at the Rose Parade in Pasadena before the Rose Bowl. In between the escorts were members of the football team standing on the backs of pickup trucks as they slowly moved down the street. Some of the vehicles were vintage firetrucks from the Michigan Firehouse Museum in Ypsilanti. With wind and snow swirling, offensive linemen, such as Trevor Keegan, Giovanni El-Hadi and Karsen Barnhart, opted to brave the conditions without shirts. Keegan caught a beverage thrown to him by a fan and chugged it amid roars from the crowd. Keegan was in one of the final cars at the back of the parade alongside Corum, defensive tackle Kris Jenkins, head coach Jim Harbaugh and others. Some of the loudest cheers came with this group, as well as Harbaugh's signature "Who's got it better than us...Nobody!" chant. For fans such as Stephanie Frankel, the parade was a throwback to the one she attended as a freshman at University of Michigan after the program's last national championship in 1997. That team split the title with Nebraska, while the 2023 team won the title outright, making Saturday's parade more special. "It was different then also because we didn't know until the next day that we were national champions," she said, pointing to the coaches and Associated Press polls that decided champions at the time. "It's also amazing to be celebrating now with my family versus when I was a freshman," she said, surrounded by numerous children, family and friends. Some of Frankel's children are old enough to understand the Wolverines have come a long way to reach this pinnacle of success. It was 10 years ago that former coach Brady Hoke's last team was 5-7, and it was less than four years ago in 2020 that the team went 2-4. "This has been what we've been waiting for," her husband Andy Frankel said. "To be able to experience these last six weeks, from the Ohio State game to the Rose Bowl to the national championship, with your children with the joy and excitement in their eyes, it was exciting." Adam Kellman was a cheerleader in the 1980s when Harbaugh was the Wolverines' quarterback. Those years under Bo Schembechler were successful, including a Rose Bowl and Sugar Bowl appearance, but this year's title is on an...

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