5 more Michigan dispensaries sold cannabis vape cartridges tainted with potentially deadly vitamin E acetate

Five dispensaries in Michigan were selling cannabis vape cartridges that were tainted with vitamin E acetate, the potentially deadly chemical additive linked to the vaping-related lung illness.

The state's Marijuana Regulatory Agency (MRA), which banned vitamin E acetate on Nov. 22, announced a recall Friday on numerous varieties of vaping cartridges sold at the Green Mile in Detroit, Liv Wellness Center in Ferndale, 664 Vassar in Vassar, Fuel 420 in Ferndale, and Green House of Walled Lake.

All of the tainted cartridges — 3,400 in all — originated from caregivers.

It’s the third time the state has recalled cannabis cartridges tainted with vitamin E acetate, a substance that is used to "cut" or dilute cannabis oil to maximize profits. On Jan. 23, the MRA recalled tainted cartridges that were sold at Plan B Wellness on E. Eight Mile Rd. The first recall was on Dec. 17 involving cartridges sold at Elite Wellness in Mount Morris.

On Nov. 22, dispensaries were required to remove tens of thousands of vape cartridges from their shelves for testing. It has been a laborious process because only one of the state’s six licensed labs — PSI Labs in Ann Arbor — has been approved to do the testing.

The lung illness linked to vitamin E acetate has caused the deaths of at least 60 people and sickened more than 2,600 others nationwide. Two of those deaths were in Michigan. Since the outbreak began last summer, the media and health officials were falsely suggesting that nicotine vaping was to blame. Two-thirds of adults still believe nicotine vaping was causing the lung-related deaths, according to a new poll.

The state is not requiring cartridges to be tested for vitamin E acetate if they were made after the Nov. 22 ban.

These products were recalled with the following METRC number, which appears on the packaging:

The Green Mile:
# 1A40401000006A5000001527
Sold between June 8, 2019 and July 1, 2019

Fuel 420:

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