The Hemp Center cultivation destroyed approximately 1,279 plants and nearly 71 pounds of dried flower on August 9, according to DEH documents that Westword obtained through a Colorado Open Records Act request. Owner Melissa Van Diest says destroying the plants was a better option than waiting for quarantined plants to undergo further testing. "I got rid of some of the employees who did this. They're gone. I am pissed, to say the least," she says. "The safety of my patients is everything; hence, why I decided to get rid of everything." The Hemp Center has two medical-only dispensaries, one in Littleton and the other in Colorado Springs.
According to Van Diest, the banned pesticides were applied without her consent or knowledge. A DEH document reporting on a July 28 visit by investigators says the cultivation's manager told DEH agents that a grower who'd applied banned pesticides had been let go.
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Gobi Labs testing results of dried flower from The Hemp Center show potentially dangerously high levels of banned pesticies.
Denver Department of Environmental Health
The DEH's investigation and the subsequent destruction of The Hemp Center's plants and flower were put in motion after the Colorado Department of Agriculture put a hold on the plants. "Their whole process is discombobulated. The procedures of the CDA are a mess," Van Diest says. "They take batches that are three weeks apart and combine them – different strains, different harvests, from different parts of the room. It was just easier for me to get rid of them."
The CDA did not respond to a request for comment.
There haven't been any reports of illness from Hemp Center products, according to the DEH. "The possible health impact of consuming marijuana products with unapproved pesticide residues is unknown. Short- and long-term health impacts may exist depending on the specific product, duration, frequency, level of exposure and route of exposure," the recall reads.
In the recall notice, the DEH urges consumers to dispose of the recalled products or return them to the store from which they were purchased; anyone who thinks they might have been affected by these products should call either Hemp Center location or email [email protected].