Whether Michigan violated the rights of Viridis Laboratories with a massive 2021 recall is beside the point, a federal court ruled this week.
“Federal law considers marijuana to be contraband for any purpose,” U.S. District Judge Paul Maloney wrote in his July 31 order, dismissing a lawsuit filed by Viridis laboratories against the the Michigan Cannabis Regulatory Agency.
Michigan has a thriving, state-sanctioned cannabis market. In June, nearly 700 licensed marijuana stores sold almost $260 million worth of cannabis products throughout the state, on pace to surpass $3 billion annually.
Viridis, which operates labs licensed in Bay City and Lansing to test commercial marijuana for consumers, verified the safety of a large portion of that product.
The business’s public problems with the CRA began in November 2021 when the licensing agency issued a recall on nearly $230 million worth of marijuana tested by Viridis. At the time, the CRA claimed the labs’ results were faulty, inaccurate or unreliable, impacting a huge swath of marijuana in the market. Viridis in court filings said it held as much as a 70 percent market share on all testing and felt the CRA was trying to “level the playing field.”
Viridis filed a lawsuit against four CRA employees that made its way to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan.
Viridis claims the recall violated its right to due process under the U.S. Constitution, since the CRA blocked sales of marijuana without an opportunity to challenge the allegations in court.
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