Police Find Vials With Marijuana Residue At MCR Labs Dumpster

FRAMINGHAM, MA- According to a police report hundreds of vials containing marijuana residue were found in a dumpster near MCR Labs at 85 Speen St, Sunday night.

The police report says officer Matthew Gutwill saw an unoccupied vehicle parked near dumpsters in the rear of the business, which functions as a local marijuana testing laboratory. When officer Gutwill looked inside the dumpster to the far left of the car, he found hundreds of glass vials containing what appeared to be extracted marijuana or THC. The sticky brown liquid in one of the vials showed a positive result for the presence of THC. The vials also had "usable marijuana including green herbal marijuana bud, Kief (Keef, Kif) which are resinous Trichomes off the bud or leaf of the marijuana plant and the extracted oils," according to the police report.

The police report notes that the dumpsters are not locked, chained or fenced off in any way and the parking lot had no signs indicating no trespassing or private property so it would be considered a public way. "The Dumpsters are open to any person going into in search of cans, bottles, metals and marijuana products. The dumpsters are also clearly not placed in a position to deter a person from entering, including children," the police report says.

In the spirit of transparency and prudence, Mayor Yvonne M. Spicer took fast action. Mayor Spicer sent a letter to the Cannabis Control Commission Chairman Steven J. Hoffman on Monday, concerning what she called a violation of the state’s cannabis regulations by MCR Labs. As per regulations, labs and other businesses are supposed to grind up garbage with cannabis waste in it before throwing it away or to combine it with other material to make sure it is not usable.

It is also mandated that at least two marijuana agents must witness and document how the marijuana waste is disposed of and the establishment must keep a written record of the entire disposal event including what was thrown, away, how it was disposed and who was there to witness it.

“I’m confident that MCR will address the violation swiftly with the Commission,” said Mayor Spicer.

City Councilor George King said he hopes this was an unfortunate, isolated incident. "I am confident that the medical and retail providers that I have heard from have much more stringent security plans in place," King said. "The hosting agreement for this lab was quite rushed and I am not sure we had the chance to do the due diligence that we will have on the others. "

As the City Councilor for the district that houses MCR Labs, Mike Cannon said he was deeply troubled by the incident and the fact that it wasn't the first time concerns were raised about MCR Labs. "With an emerging industry coming to cities and towns throughout Massachusetts, events like this can cause residents to question the integrity of an entire industry. My impression of other cannabis businesses coming to Framingham is that they recognize the stakes and are firmly committed to exceeding all state and local regulations," he said.

City Councilor at Large Cheryl Tully Stoll called the incident "completely unacceptable". Stoll was concerned, noting the relatively small volume of testing the company handles. "If they can't handle this volume without serious violations, I don't know what to expect going forward," she said, adding she hopes the Cannabis Control Commission carries out the appropriate punishments.

The Cannabis Control Commission did not immediately respond to Patch's request for comment. MCR Labs' CEO Mike Kahn released a statement in response to Sunday's incident, explaining that the facility routinely renders all marijuana waste useless. "Despite that precaution, we immediately instituted additional protocols requiring the storage of used, tested products inside our building until the time of disposal in accordance with regulations," the statement reads. "We apologize to the City of Framingham and the Cannabis Control Commission for any disruption that has been caused. We are committed to ensuring the safety of our community."

Photo Credit: Framingham Police Department