California’s fledgling legal marijuana market faces a dilemma: a proliferation of counterfeit cannabis products that’s cutting into the profits and reputations of some of the state’s most popular legal brands while boosting sales in a thriving black market
An award-winning marijuana vape pen that was among the most profitable items sold by the cultivator had begun turning up at unlicensed weed dispensaries across California, its signature black box with the image of a red-eyed, stoned-out-of-his-mind playing-card king beckoning customers.
Licensed cannabis cultivators and businesses can’t distribute their wares to unlicensed dispensaries and delivery services without risking punishment from regulatory agencies, meaning any brand-name item that customers find in an illegal shop is almost certainly counterfeit.
The BCC has received 38 complaints about counterfeit products through its online reporting portal since December 2017, Traverso said. The California Department of Public Health said it had received 21 similar reports since May of this year. Daniel Yi, a spokesman for Stiiizy , said the company had done its best to educate customers about how to spot fraudulent merchandise and issued a number of cease-and-desist letters. But, Yi warned, dealing with counterfeiters is like a game of “ whack-a-mole.”Law enforcement and regulatory agencies tasked with combating the state’s illicit cannabis market could not provide information about how popular brands in California are counterfeited.
“This is uncharted territory for us,” he said. “Most of our field investigators don’t know the difference between a legitimate vaping pen and a knockoff pen.” Reports of people getting sick after consuming unregulated marijuana products in the state have been sporadic. Eight patients were diagnosed with acute respiratory distress syndrome in Northern California this summer after smoking marijuana from unlicensed “pop-up” dispensaries, said Nancy Gerking, assistant director of the Kings County Public Health Department.in South L.A. that was allegedly selling pesticide-laced marijuana.
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