The word counterfeit can be: an adjective – made in exact imitation of something valuable or important with the intention to deceive or defraud, a noun – a fraudulent imitation of something else; a forgery, or a verb – imitate fraudulently, but all 3 have a very similar idea. Forgeries and counterfeits usually are thought of as being of money, or art, or documents. Now it seems that cannabis licenses might be getting fraudulently used by the wrong people. Maybe it’s an honest mistake? Perhaps the truth lies somewhere in the middle. Decide for yourself.
Sonoma Pacific Distribution sent around 600 units of a product called HoneyButter Rosin to at least seventeen different dispensaries that displayed labels with Ground Level’s name and license number. Ronnie Cabral is the founder of Ground Level, which does business as Atlas Extracts, and he had never heard of HoneyButter Rosin, He’d also never had any finalized professional dealings with Sonoma Pacific Distribution. Sonoma Pacific Distribution had talked to him about a distribution arrangement, since both companies are based in Santa Rosa, but it had only been talk. The distributor was using Cabral’s state business information on labels for products made by different company. The mislabeling meant Atlas Extracts might have been held liable by state regulators if the product had been found to be illegal or contaminated. The mislabeled HoneyButter Rosin products were recalled from the stores, and the incident was reported to both the California Department of Public Health and the Bureau of Cannabis Control. Stacy Hostetter, an attorney for Sonoma Pacific Distribution, said “There were discussions about co-packaging for some products, and there was evidently a misunderstanding about the ability to co-package, and the product went out.” Hostetter also mentioned that the HoneyButter recall was initiated August 15th and is “mostly complete.”
All of California’s cannabis companies’ names and license numbers are posted online by the Bureau of Cannabis Control and departments of Public Health and Food and Agriculture. Cabral told Mj Biz Daily, “I don’t know how that can be safeguarded, or how we as operators can protect ourselves and our license number from something like that when we have to put it on every product that we sell.” “It’s like tattooing your Social Security number on your forehead and telling everyone to keep it a secret.” How can we all protect ourselves or better regulate against this kind of thing. The future will tell.
To learn about genuine Atlas Extracts, check out their site here: atlasextracts.net.
B. Le Grand
