Colorado marijuana audit: Unsafe products sat on shelves for up to 3 years

By Chris Osher | The Denver Gazette

Consumers of Colorado’s first-in-the-nation regulated recreational marijuana market are at risk of consuming contaminated products due to deficiencies in state regulations, an audit released Monday found.

The state audit into how the Colorado Marijuana Enforcement Division regulates marijuana market safety detailed similar findings to those uncovered in a September investigative report by The Denver Gazette and ProPublica on delays in pulling from Colorado dispensaries a marijuana sleep aid pill with ingredients that researchers said can cause liver damage.

“These issues limit MED’s ability to meet its core objective to identify product safety risks and to help ensure that licensed marijuana businesses meet product safety requirements,” the audit stated. “As a result, there is an increased risk that marijuana products sold in Colorado may have contaminants or that the potency listed on the labels is inaccurate.”

The audit found that unsafe products remained on the market for as long as three years before the enforcement division issued a public warning and urged the enforcement division to issue more timely warnings. A review of the agency’s health and safety advisories found that, on average, from 2023 through 2025, an affected product that was the subject of an advisory remained on shelves for more than seven months.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE AT THE DENVER GAZETTE