Michigan Cannabis Testing Lab Loses Licenses, Owners Banned in Long-Running Dispute
The Michigan Cannabis Regulatory Agency (CRA) has reached a settlement with testing company Viridis, ending a years-long dispute. As a result, the state is revoking the licenses held by the lab and permanently banning its three majority owners from participating in the industry.
The dispute began in November 2021, when the CRA found inaccurate and unreliable results from Viridis, which was testing as much as 70% of the cannabis products on the market at the time. The recall of these products threw the industry into turmoil, with hundreds of products being returned to store shelves.
The CRA argued that Viridis was inflating THC levels and failing to uphold the required standards for marijuana safety compliance facilities. The agency described Viridis’ actions as a “sustained, deliberate pattern of noncompliance that shook confidence in the entire regulated cannabis system.”
As part of the settlement, Viridis’ three majority owners – Todd Welch, Gregoire Michaud, and Michele Glinn – will be permanently excluded from participating in Michigan’s marijuana industry. The company will also dismiss its administrative complaint and appeals pending in the Michigan Court of Appeals.
Minority investors in Viridis are reorganizing and forming a separate entity to run the lab in Bay City. The CRA’s executive director, Brian Hanna, praised the settlement, saying, “This is justice, plain and simple. Viridis failed to uphold the standards required of marijuana safety compliance facilities in Michigan. Their majority owners will never operate in this space again, and the Michigan cannabis industry will be stronger for it.”
