Former HEKA, Inc. Employee Expresses Concerns About Cannabis Cultivation Process

WESTFIELD, Mass. (WGGB/WSHM) – A former employee of a local cannabis company has contacted Western Mass News over concerns that their cultivation process is safe for public consumption.

Western Mass News spoke exclusively with this employee, who wished to remain anonymous, to learn more.

A former employee of Westfield’s HEKA Incorporated cannabis dispensary sent Western Mass News a video of cannabis plants in the grow facility. They reported seeing spider mites, mold and mildew coating the marijuana plant.

“Extremely green and invasive powdery mildew and mold infecting all flowers in the facility,” they said.

The former employee has over six years of experience in the marijuana industry. They said HEKA knowingly distributed marijuana, which the employee said is dangerous for the public to smoke.

“Powdery mildew is very dangerous for anyone with a lung medical problem. It can produce other lung infections,” explained the former HEKA employee.

The Cannabis Control Board has strict policies that local dispensaries are required to follow.

This includes sending their factories out for testing, which the former employee said the company found a way around.

“Out of a batch of maybe a thousand plants, you only have to send a few grams of that batch to be tested so that they are carefully hand-picked to ensure they are clean. Once that these selected samples have passed the tests, the rest of the batch is automatically submitted for the tests,” explained the former employee.

Western Mass News contacted the Cannabis Control Board and they said they had already received a complaint about the HEKA Incorporated factories. They released a statement to Western Mass News which reads the quote:

“The Cannabis Control Commission received this investigation on Friday, May 27 and is reviewing it. In general, the agency takes seriously the health and safety of patients and consumers who purchase products from licensed establishments, as well as the agents who employ them. Commission staff will continue to conduct scheduled and unannounced inspections of marijuana establishments and medical marijuana treatment centers, including routine compliance checks, investigations, and investigations of constituent complaints.

Western Mass News to HEKA Incorporated, both by email and by calling their Westfield dispensary, but they did not return our request for comment.

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