How Did Health Canada Inspectors Miss Unlicensed Cannabis Rooms?
Health Canada Inspectors Getting Overwhelmed by Requests – LPC
Last summer, Health Canada inspectors got a tip that CannTrust was growing cannabis in unlicensed rooms. That led to its cannabis production licence suspension, layoffs, and the destruction of its cannabis supply. More recently, Hexo had its licences suspended as well – again for growing cannabis in unlicensed spaces.
What’s strange about both cases is that Health Canada inspectors had been onsite when this was happening. So how did they miss these unlicensed cannabis rooms?
A former Health Canada inspector gives some insight into the situation.
“The department has been overwhelmed for quite some time, but it is not necessarily their fault,” said the unnamed inspector. (Please see link below to the full article.) “They are getting so many applications for amendments daily, that they are not able to conduct spot inspections on LPs as much as often as they used to, or the inspections are done very quickly.”
Further complicating the situation is the system. Jeannette VanderMarel, CEO of Beleave, said she has a good relationship with Health Canada. But, she said, every amendment to the licence has to be done one at a time – a process that can take 60 business days.
“For instance, if I want to inform Health Canada that I have had a change in a director on my board, I submit that through the online system. I have to wait for that to be approved first, before I submit another amendment to, say, ask for a licence change for a room,” VanderMarel said. She added that sometimes a Health Canada inspector would visit the site, and sometimes not.
Cannabis edibles, extracts, and topicals – the so-called Cannabis 2.0 – is also contributing to the backlog.
System Needs to Adjust to the Growing Industry – LPC
This is not to suggest the system is not working. There have been several instances where companies have been found in serious non-compliance. Evergreen Medicinal Supply had its medical sales and cultivation licences suspended after an unannounced visit by Health Canada inspectors. The concern was that the company planned to divert supply to the black market. Bonify Medical Supply did sell unlicensed cannabis to licensed retailers, which also led to licence suspension. Health Canada reinstated its licence in October 2019. CannTrust is working towards the same.
That unnamed Health Canada inspector mentioned above said the bottom line is that the federal government needs to invest more money into the system.
“I feel for (Health Canada inspectors). I worked there, I know that they are trying their best. I’m not saying I know what happened with Hexo, but I can see how things could get missed when you are just so overwhelmed with the amount you have to do on a daily basis,” he said.
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