MA fines marijuana MSOs Ascend, Curaleaf a combined $165,000

Massachusetts regulators fined New York-based marijuana multistate operators Ascend Wellness Holdings and Curaleaf Holdings a combined $165,000 for neglecting consumer safety practices.

The Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission (CCC) fined Ascend $85,000 on Thursday for omitting roughly 900 marijuana products from the state’s required track-and-trace system, The Boston Globe reported.

The allegations, which date as far back as 2021, included failing to seal gaps in doors and ducts as well as workplace deficiencies that led to at least three contaminated cannabis samples.

The CCC fined Curaleaf $80,000 on Thursday for systemic failures limiting contamination from pesticides at its Amesbury and Webster cultivation facilities, according to the Globe.

Meanwhile, the CCC expects to conclude its search for a new executive director by the end of October, the State House News Service reported.

Bruce Stebbins was appointed acting chair of the regulatory agency in September.

That appointment followed the firing of the agency’s former chair, Shannon O’Brien, who was dismissed because she “committed gross misconduct” and was “unable to discharge the powers and duties of a CCC commissioner.”