MJBizMag April 2022 - 8

FROM THE EDITOR Kate Lavin
Real-Life Case Study
The deadly vape crisis of 2019-20 underscores the importance
of quality control
N
othing drives home the
need for quality assurance
in consumer products like a
public-health crisis.
Two-and-a-half years ago,
Americans began reporting
to emergency rooms with a
mysterious lung ailment. With
patients of all ages, races and
genders popping up around the
country, it took weeks to identify
the common thread: vape pens
and vape cartridges.
The public waited even longer
to learn the culprit that was
making patients sick. In the past,
some vape manufacturers used
vitamin E acetate as a thickening
agent without negative effects.
But some producers of tobacco,
THC and CBD vapes increased the
quantity of synthetic vitamin E
they used to cut costs, and the
results were disastrous.
By the time the regulators
identified vitamin E acetate as the
cause of the vape crisis, dozens
had died and hospitalizations shot
past 2,700.
Write Down Your Recipe
Speaking about the importance
of good manufacturing practices
for this month's cover story, David
Vaillencourt, CEO of the GMP
Collective in Colorado, said the
vape crisis could have been avoided
if manufacturers-most of them,
but not all, working in the illicit
market-had kept a list of the raw
materials used in their disposable
vapes and vape cartridges.
The prospect of selling an
inhalable product without detailed
8 April 2022 | MJBizMagazine
records of raw materials used
should be alarming to anyone selling
consumer packaged goods. After
all, even hobby bakers can tell you
where they buy chocolate chips.
" No state was saying, 'Test for
vitamin E acetate.' That wasn't a
risk factor that anybody identified, "
Vaillencourt told MJBizMagazine
reporter Omar Sacirbey. " We just
didn't think to test for it. "
I can't imagine a worse way to
find out.
A Call to Action
With the vape crisis largely
eclipsed in our collective memory
by another deadly pulmonary
illness, COVID-19, it's imperative
we remember the consequences of
poor product sourcing, bad quality
control and fudging test results.
Fortunately, Vaillencourt and
others interviewed for this issue
have outlined how cannabis companies
can, among other things:
* Vet suppliers.
* Implement new standard
operating procedures.
* Independently test raw
materials.
* Calculate inputs for dosing.
In the cover package starting on
page 32, we also hear from qualitycontrol
specialists at multistate
operators about how they standardize
manufacturing and testing
procedures when regulations vary
widely between markets.
In addition to the steps above,
" We monitor everything that is
happening at the state level on
a granular basis, " Ellen Deutsch,
senior vice president at Acreage
Holdings, told MJBizMagazine's
Bart Schaneman. She added that
the company is in constant contact
with regulators in every state
where Acreage does business, so
regional managers are aware of
upcoming hearings and plans to
execute changes.
Also in the cover package,
laboratory specialists discuss
testing challenges that are unique
to cannabis, and we hear from
representatives of standardsdevelopment
organizations about
how they are working together to
create cannabis-specific testing
methods.
Managing Online Reviews
Elsewhere in this issue, reporter
Kate Robertson speaks with
executives from retail stores and
web-based cannabis platforms
about best practices for handling
online reviews.
More than one-third of
Weedmaps users said reviews
from " verified purchasers " were
important when making buying
decisions. And while negative
feedback is inevitable, it could
be an opportunity to right a
wrong-and polish your company's
reputation.
Kate Lavin is the editor
of MJBizMagazine. Reach
her at kate.lavin@
mjbizdaily.com.
MJBizMag April 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of MJBizMag April 2022
