One of the nation's leading cannabis companies has agreed to pay a $350,000 fine tied to the death of an employee who suffered an asthma attack at its Massachusetts production plant two years ago, according to a settlement it reached with the state's cannabis regulator.
Industry giant Trulieve, which shuttered its operations in Massachusetts last year, failed to meet several safety requirements at the Holyoke facility where 27-year-old employee Lorna McMurrey worked when she died in 2022, the Cannabis Control Commission asserted.
State health officials think McMurrey was the first person in the American cannabis industry to die from an asthma-related workplace incident. McMurrey, of West Springfield, had reported breathing issues while grinding and processing cannabis at the Holyoke plant, a role that exposed her to significant amounts of cannabis dust and other airborne particles.
Amid a severe asthma attack, she collapsed on the job on Jan. 4, 2022, and never regained consciousness. She died three days later at a local hospital, according to a study on the incident published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Read more at masslive.com