California Recalls 2 More West Coast Cure Cannabis Products Contaminated With Deadly Pesticide

California’s pesticide scandal around popular cannabis brand West Coast Cure (WCC) escalated again at the end of summer 2024, when regulators pulled two more products from shelves after detecting a highly toxic, Category I pesticide.

On August 29, 2024, the California Department of Cannabis Control (DCC) issued a consumer advisory and mandatory recalls for additional WCC products after state laboratory testing found chlorfenapyr, a pesticide classified at the highest level of acute toxicity. The next day, Cannabis Business Times detailed the move in an article titled “California Recalls 2 More West Coast Cure Cannabis Products Contaminated With Deadly Pesticide.” MORE HERE: Cannabis Business Times

What Products Were Recalled in August 2024?

According to the DCC advisory and industry coverage, the August 29 recall targeted two specific products manufactured by Shield Management Group, the Los Angeles–based licensee behind West Coast Cure: MORE HERE: Cannabis Business Times

  • Jack Herer CUREpen Premium THC Oil – a 1-gram vape cartridge sold at dozens of licensed dispensaries statewide.
  • Animal Cookies Live Resin Diamonds – a 1-gram concentrate also distributed widely across California.

Cannabis Business Times reported that the affected Jack Herer cartridge (Batch No. VPPL234378) had been sold at 93 dispensaries in 25 counties, while the live resin diamonds batch (MLRDI233057) reached 105 retail locations in 30 counties.

The recall came on top of earlier West Coast Cure actions in June and July, raising serious questions about how long chlorfenapyr-contaminated batches remained in the legal supply chain before regulators intervened.

Timeline: How the West Coast Cure Pesticide Scandal Unfolded

A rough timeline shows how fast the issue snowballed once independent investigations began highlighting pesticide risks in California’s legal cannabis market:

  • June 12, 2024 – DCC issues a voluntary recall for a West Coast Cure Premium Cure flower product over inaccurate labeling of cannabinoid content, signaling early scrutiny of WCC’s compliance. MORE ABOUT: Palm Springs City
  • June 14, 2024 – The Los Angeles Times, in partnership with WeedWeek, publishes “The Dirty Secret of California’s Legal Weed,” documenting alarming levels of pesticides in tested products from major brands, including vapes and pre-rolls on dispensary shelves. MORE ABOUT: Los Angeles Times
  • June 25, 2024 – DCC posts its first mandatory pesticide recall: a CUREpen Premium THC Oil “Orange Cookies” vape cartridge containing chlorfenapyr, an insecticide not allowed in cannabis. News reports note the batch was packaged in September 2023 and had been sold at more than 160 locations statewide.
  • July 2, 2024 – DCC issues a consumer advisory and mandatory recalls for five additional WCC vape products—four CUREpen THC oil cartridges and one live resin cartridge—after detecting chlorfenapyr in all five batches.
  • July 5, 2024 – Cannabis Business Times publishes “Cannabis Products Contaminated With Deadly Pesticide Recalled From California Market,” detailing the July 2 recalls, chlorfenapyr’s risks, and West Coast Cure’s public response, including its claim that all products had passed state-licensed lab testing.
  • Mid–July 2024 – The DCC expands chlorfenapyr-related recalls to other brands, such as Kush Collective and Lime products, reflecting a broader contamination problem beyond WCC.
  • August 29, 2024 – The DCC issues a new consumer advisory for “multiple West Coast Cure products” due to Category I pesticide contamination, specifically naming Jack Herer CUREpen and West Coast Cure Live Resin Diamonds.
  • August 30, 2024 – Cannabis Business Times publishes “California Recalls 2 More West Coast Cure Cannabis Products Contaminated With Deadly Pesticide,” confirming chlorfenapyr as the culprit and noting that these recalls bring the year’s total DCC recalls to 37, compared with just five in 2023.

Taken together, this sequence shows how an investigative media spotlight triggered an aggressive new phase of enforcement, culminating in repeated hits to a single high-profile brand.

Why Chlorfenapyr Is Considered “Deadly”

Chlorfenapyr is classified as a Category I pesticide, the most toxic category used in U.S. labeling, based on oral, dermal, and inhalation data.

Key points regulators and scientists highlight:

  • Category I pesticides must carry a “DANGER/POISON” label with a skull and crossbones under EPA rules.
  • A 2015 study cited by the National Institutes of Health found that chlorfenapyr poisoning in humans is associated with high fever, muscle breakdown, severe neurological symptoms, and a high risk of death within 7–20 days after exposure.
  • Chlorfenapyr is not registered for food use in California and is explicitly banned in cannabis cultivation by the state’s Department of Pesticide Regulation.

Despite this, multiple WCC products and other brands’ vapes and infused flower batches tested positive for the chemical in 2024, according to state recall records and media analyses.

Testing Gaps, Lawsuits, and Industry Fallout

California requires every cannabis product to be tested by a licensed lab before it can be packaged and sold, including screening for residual pesticides.(Cannabis Business Times) Yet the WCC case shows that contaminated products can still pass compliance testing and remain on shelves for months.

In its July 2 statement, West Coast Cure argued that it invests heavily in testing—nearly $1 million in 2023—and relies on state-licensed labs whose certificates of analysis showed passing results. The company used the episode to criticize inconsistent lab standards and called for tighter oversight, third-party accreditation, and uniform methods across labs.

At the same time, a class-action lawsuit filed June 15, 2024, in Orange County Superior Court alleged that independent testing found unreported Category I pesticides such as chlorfenapyr, paclobutrazol, and fipronil, along with other pesticide residues, in a wide range of WCC products. The suit accuses the company and parts of the testing ecosystem of “lab shopping” and masking safety failures, allegations WCC denies.

Regulators, meanwhile, have begun pulling products directly from the supply chain for their own testing—a shift that appears to have started in late 2023 and drove the spike in recalls during 2024.

What Consumers Should Do

The DCC advises consumers who purchased affected West Coast Cure products to:

  • Check packaging for matching batch and UID numbers listed in official recall notices.
  • Stop using recalled products immediately.
  • Return them to the retailer for proper disposal where possible.
  • Seek medical attention if they experience symptoms such as high fever, confusion, muscle pain, or other unusual reactions after using recalled products.

For many consumers, the West Coast Cure recalls have become a case study in why buying from the legal market is not a complete guarantee of safety—and why transparency, robust testing standards, and timely enforcement are crucial for rebuilding trust in California’s regulated cannabis industry.