Read WeedWeek’s follow up story here.

A worker collapsed and died during her shift at MSO Green Thumb Industries‘ (GTI) grow and manufacturing facility in Rock Island, Ill.

Rock Island County Coroner Brian Gustafson told WeedWeek that the incident was being investigated as a natural death and that the cause wasn’t related to the working environment at the facility. He declined to comment further.

A spokesperson for Chicago-based Green Thumb Industries wrote in a statement:

• The company didn’t respond to additional questions and confirmation requests.
• A spokesperson for the Illinois Dept. of Agriculture, which regulates grows, said the death occurred in a non-work area of the facility.

A factory worker who asked to be identified only as Marv said he arrived at his shift around seven a.m. There were emergency vehicles on the scene and he was greeted by HR instead of security. Inside workers were shaken up.

• The victim, whose name has not been released, was about 60 and had moved from a desk job into a production job, Marv said.

Marv works mainly in the grow area but said he has had coughing fits in the production area where the deceased worked. After he posted on social media that someone had died at work, he said he received a “very threatening” phone call from someone who identified themself as a GTI HR executive. The executive said the conversation would continue on Monday, Marv said.

Alex Suarez, a former cannabis worker who’s now a cannabis business agent with Chicago-area Teamsters Local 777 told WeedWeek that said the worker who died suffered from Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), a condition which affects breathing.  

• The Rock Island factory is not unionized.
• Workers organized by the Teamsters recently struck for 13-days at two Rise-branded GTI shops in the Chicago area, securing a pay raise.
• The union subsequently alleged that the company spied on the workers in a private Discord server during the strike. GTI has denied the charges.

Today’s incident follows the January 2022 death of 27-year old production worker Lorna McMurrey at GTI rival Trulieve‘s factory in Holyoke, Mass.

The U.S. Occupational and Health Services Administration (OSHA) originally attributed McMurrey’s death to inhaling cannabis dust. It subsequently amended the cause to an asthma attack. Trulieve paid a $14,502 fine to resolve the issue.

• The factory had been under investigation by Massachusetts authorities at the time of McMurrey’s death. They have yet to issue a report.   
• (Trulieve subsequently said it would exit the factory and state on account of market conditions.)   

After McMurrey died, one of her co-workers said the lack of “respirator” masks, which offer more protection than N95 masks, is industry standard. Marv said few workers wear masks in the room where the deceased worked.

• In a 2022 study published in the British journal Allergy, researchers found that “prolonged occupational exposure to hemp dust results in respiratory irritation, airflow obstruction, and inflammation called byssinosis, an occupational disease more commonly known as “brown-lung disease.”  

Industry groups U.S. Cannabis Council and National Cannabis Industry Association previously declined to comment on the respirator issue. (USCC didn’t respond to a request for comment today.) 

Like some other large cannabis companies, GTI has occasionally been cited by OSHA for workplace safety violations:

• The Rock Island facility was named in a June 23 complaint. The inspection remains open and additional information isn’t available.  
• A Danville, Pa. facility was named in a May 18 complaint. The inspection remains open.
• The Rock Island facility was named in a May 4 complaint. The inspection remains open.
• The company was fined after a February 2022 incident in Toledo, Ohio. An employee triggered an explosion when trying to cut open a previously used 55-gallon drum of ethanol. Wearing safety gloves and glasses, the employee was hospitalized for fractures to the orbital bones (eye socket) and arms. 

Rock Island is part of the Quad-Cities area of Illinois and Iowa, divided by the Mississippi River.

*

Contact WeedWeek with additional information on cannabis industry worker safety on the encrypted Signal app: 917-750-9160.