CannTrust suspends sales of cannabis products during Canada regulatory review (updated)
12/07/2019 01:46
(Adds CannTrust statement)
By Moira Warburton
TORONTO, July 11 (Reuters) - Canada-based medical cannabis
company CannTrust Holdings Inc TRST.TO said on Thursday it
suspended sales of cannabis products after the federal health
regulator found the company sold marijuana produced in
unlicensed facilities.
Alberta is placing an unspecified amount of CannTrust
products on hold as a precautionary measure, officials said,
pending an investigation by Health Canada into whether cannabis
from unlicensed facilities is safe for consumption.
The move by the Alberta Gaming and Liquor Commission (AGLC)
comes after Ontario's cannabis distributor pulled CannTrust
products from its site. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL2N24B0N4
The impact on financial results is not yet known, CannTrust
said. The company has formed a special committee that includes
independent members of the board of directors to investigate the
matter. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nPn41TYp0a
CannTrust announced Health Canada's findings of
non-compliance in producing cannabis in unlicensed facilities on
Monday, precipitating a 40% drop in stock value over the week.
The company saw a decline of nearly 8% on Thursday. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2492XE
The CannTrust case is the most high-profile occurrence of a
company being rapped by Canada's health regulator since the
country legalised recreational marijuana in October, potentially
raising questions about the ability of companies to achieve
growth and stay within the legal regulations as production ramps
up post-legalisation, analysts say.
CannTrust's Danish partner, StenoCare STENO.TE , announced
on Wednesday it was quarantining one batch of product it had
received, and then increased that number to five on Thursday.
urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N24C255
"It is at the discretion of privately licensed Alberta
retailers to work in consultation with CannTrust and Health
Canada to determine whether they will continue to sell existing
inventory, should they have affected products," Heather Holmen,
spokeswoman for the AGLC, said in an email on Wednesday.
"As Health Canada has not issued a recall at this point,
AGLC will continue to monitor the situation and respond
accordingly once Health Canada releases their findings," she
said.
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Ontario cannabis retailer pulls some CannTrust products over use
of unlicensed facilities urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL2N24B0N4
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(Reporting by Moira Warburton and Sathvik N
Editing by Bill Trott and Lisa Shumaker)
((Moira.Warburton@thomsonreuters.com;))