WORCESTER—The Cannabis Control Commission (Commission) has issued an amended quarantine order for vaporizer devices and products manufactured by Marijuana Establishments and Medical Marijuana Treatment Centers in Massachusetts. Effective at 2 p.m. today, the order permits the sale of devices used to vaporize flower for adult and medical use of marijuana, devices designed to vaporize concentrate that do not contain usable marijuana, and regulated vaporizer products that are manufactured starting Thursday which pass screens for vitamin E acetate as well as other contaminants required under the Commission’s testing protocols.
The Commission’s initial quarantine remains in place for all other marijuana vaporizer products that have been manufactured prior to December 12.
Today’s action modifies a November 12 quarantine order the Commission issued following a Superior Court ruling concerning the Commonwealth’s declared vaping public health emergency and investigative findings from the US Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention (CDC) that identified vitamin E acetate as a chemical of concern among people with e-cigarette, or vaping, product use associated lung injury. On December 6, the Commission entered into a data-sharing agreement with the Department of Public Health (DPH) after DPH identified licensees that may be linked to probable lung injury cases in Massachusetts. No case with a confirmed injury has so far identified using vaping products that were purchased from a licensed Marijuana Establishment or Medical Marijuana Treatment Center.
As part of an ongoing investigation, the Commission continues to test vaporizer products for the presence of toxicants or contaminants, including vitamin E acetate and heavy metals. Using validated tests, Independent Testing Laboratories have not identified detectable levels of vitamin E acetate from 91 initial vaporizer product testing samples that were collected from unique source production batches from 19 licensees in November. The Commission is still awaiting the results of 126 additional vaporizer product test samples collected from unique source production batches from 22 licensees in December.
Based on initial testing results from samples collected in December, the Commission has determined continued investigation is necessary to determine whether any vaporizer product samples exceed the heavy metals threshold established in the Commission’s Protocol for Sampling and Analysis of Finished Medical Marijuana Products and Marijuana-infused Products. The Commission’s investigation into existing vaporizer product toxicants remains ongoing