Pennsylvania’s controversial marijuana vape recall is overturned by appeals court judge

June 17, 2022
AggregatedNews
Pennsylvania
0 Comments

A Commonwealth Court judge on Wednesday allowed Pennsylvania medical marijuana companies to resume selling vapes that were taken off the shelves in February in a controversial recall.

“We are thrilled about this decision,” said Judith D. Cassel, an attorney for a group of cannabis companies that sued state regulators in February, alleging that the recall was unfounded.

“The vapes can go immediately back on the shelves, and the grower processors can continue or commence producing these vapes,” said Cassel, a partner at Hawke McKeon & Sniscak LLP in Harrisburg.

The ruling is a blow to the Pennsylvania Department of Health, which in February mandated a massive recall and ban of 670 types of cannabis concentrates for vaping — 330,000 units — that they had previously approved for sale in Pennsylvania’s more than 150 marijuana dispensaries.

Vaping involves an electronic device that heats a liquid form of cannabis to create a vapor or aerosol that the patient breathes in.

The move blindsided patients and an industry dominated by companies hyper-focused on broader legalization of marijuana. And regulators declined to explain the action beyond saying the medicines contained “added ingredients that have not been approved for inhalation” by the FDA.