032922-marijuana (file copy) A bud tender holds two marijuana buds on his fingers for a customer at a Denver recreational marijuana outlet. A customer works with a bud tender a marijuana dispensary in Denver. A customer works with a bud tender a marijuana dispensary in Denver. A Colorado cannabis cultivator has filed a lawsuit against the state’s marijuana regulators, with a spotlight on what it describes as massive oversights in the state’s testing regime that the cultivator claims endanger public health and allows for the illegal diversion of cannabis into black markets.
The lawsuit, filed earlier this week in Denver District court by Saguache-based Mammoth Farms, calls for court-ordered changes to the state’s testing protocols and represents the most forceful claim of bad oversight by the state’s Marijuana Enforcement Division (MED).
Mammoth Farms tried to alert state officials about specific facilities exploiting loopholes in the state’s regulations, the lawsuit asserts, but no action was taken. The lawsuit contends Mammoth has suffered, along with other “legitimate businesses,” because they don’t exploit loopholes in the state’s regulations, which means law-abiding cultivators don’t operate on a level playing field and are at risk of going out of business.
These latest claims also come just one month after a Gazette investigation into cannabis testing in the state, which found evidence of mold testing manipulation in an analysis of 325,000 test results. The Gazette’s findings support the anecdotal accounts of widespread cannabis testing manipulation, and align with the limited number of state investigations that found testing protocol violations in half of all MED discipline actions in 2024.
The Gazette also found a risk of health hazards tied to contaminants and mold in marijuana products sold throughout the state.
If a court sides with Mammoth Farms, an 80-acre San Luis Valley operation that advertises itself as the largest outdoor cannabis cultivator in North America, Colorado could be forced to overhaul large parts of the state’s cannabis testing systems.
A spokesperson for Colorado’s Marijuana Enforcement Division declined comment, stating that the division has a policy against commenting on pending litigation.
The lawsuit states that rogue operators regularly exploit loopholes in state regulations to […]
Get Creative with Cannabis: The Ultimate Guide to Painting and Pottery Workshops
Creative with Cannabis Cannabis and creativity go hand in hand—especially
