MA Cannabis Worker Dies After Inhaling Marijuana Dust

HOLYOKE, MA — A worker at a legal cannabis cultivation facility in Massachusetts died in January after inhaling marijuana dust while making pre-rolled joints, according to a report released by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

The death happened at Trulieve in Holyoke, according to the OSHA report. The Florida-based company has more than 180 dispensaries in several states including Massachusetts, the company's website says.

Holyoke is located about eight miles north of Springfield. The Trulieve employee's death was first reported last week by the podcast The Young Jurks.

According to OSHA's report, the incident happened on Jan. 7 around 11 p.m. The report said an employee was grinding cannabis flowers and packaging them into pre-rolled joints. While the report did not mention additional details, it said, "The employee could not breathe and was killed due to the hazards of ground cannabis dust."

OSHA did not identify the employee; however, Trulieve and other media identified her as 27-year-old Lorna McMurrey, according to a Forbes report.

"Our hearts go out to Ms. McMurrey's family, friends, and colleagues as the circumstances around her passing have recently resurfaced, resulting in their having to reexperience their loss," Trulieve said in a statement obtained by Forbes. "We cherish and value all of the 9,000 employees who make Trulieve a family and the safety of our team members is paramount to our core values."

Trulieve was cited for three "serious" violations and fined more than $35,000 by OSHA, according to the report. McMurrey's mother, Laura Bruneau, told Commonwealth magazine she is considering filing a wrongful death lawsuit against the company.

November 2022 will mark six years since Massachusetts residents voted to legalize recreational marijuana. In 2016, Massachusetts, California, Maine, and Nevada voted to legalize recreational marijuana, joining Colorado, Washington, Alaska, and Oregon.

Under Massachusetts law, adults older than 21 are permitted to use, grow and sell marijuana in limited quantities without legal consequences. The state began allowing licensed recreational sales in 2018.

Trulieve is licensed to grow up to 80,000 square feet of cannabis plants at its facility in Holyoke, according to a report by High Times.

Drew Weiss, an organizer at United Food and Commercial Workers, a labor union representing cannabis production facilities, said workers in the industry face a variety of workplace hazards, High Times reported.

"You're doing farm work in a factory, so you have the health hazards associated with both farm and factory settings," Weisse said.

Still, McMurrey's death is likely the first of its kind on record, according to Forbes, which cited Sam Marvin, another organizer with United Food and Commercial Workers. Trulieve's facility in Holyoke is non-union.

"With any new industry, there's a lot of safety issues going on," Marvin told Forbes. "In cannabis, there's mold [hazards], there's issues around ergonomics and the physical aspect of it, there's lighting… and making sure workers have the proper eye protection."

While death due to cannabis toxicity is rate, dust from many parts of the marijuana plant (leaves, buds, pollen, and smoke) are associated with some allergic reactions, according to a study by the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries. The development of work-related asthma has also been reported in cannabis laboratory workers.

According to a National Institutes of Health study, modern-day processing plants often produce significant quantities of respirable dust that's "highly contaminated with endotoxin and microorganisms." As a result, the dust has the potential to cause a range of health problems, the study said.

In a statement, Trulieve officials said personal protective equipment was available to employees, and OSHA "tested the air quality throughout the facility and the samples were all well below the acceptable range."