A new breed of drug companies
Mr. Engel was named CEO in March, part of an effort by Organigram to turn the page on its pesticide recall problems, which had disrupted operations and hindered the company's stock price, upsetting investors.
In hiring the new CEO, Organigram told investors it landed an industry veteran, which was true.
Prior to joining Organigram, Mr. Engel had previously served as CEO of a rival medical marijuana company, B.C.-based Tilray Inc.
However, during Mr. Engel's time at Tilray, lobbying records show the company held backroom discussions with the B.C. government in an effort to gain permission to use myclobutanil, which is banned in Canada and the United States for use on cannabis, tobacco and other combusted plants due to numerous health concerns, including the discovery that it emits hydrogen cyanide when heated.
According to the B.C. lobbyists registry, Tilray asked the B.C. government for help in getting federal approval for "emergency use" of the pesticide when dealing with mildew infestations, and also for "long term" use. The conversation was never intended to be public.
A Tilray spokesman said the effort was later halted when Health Canada created a list of approved alternative fungicides that should be used instead of the banned pesticide.
The effort would not have had much chance of succeeding, though. The manufacturer, Dow AgroSciences, does not consider myclobutanil safe for use on plants such as cannabis. When inhaled, the compound enters the bloodstream directly through the lungs, without being broken down by the digestive system. No studies have been done to determine whether it is safe to be smoked, and Dow AgroSciences strictly warns against inhalation.
The lobbying documents are an interesting glimpse inside the industry, since the use of pesticides – legal or otherwise – is rarely discussed in the open.
When medical marijuana companies like Organigram meet with investors, they tout themselves not as weed growers or pot heads, but sophisticated pharmaceutical businesses concerned with the health of their clients.
Given the spate of pesticide recalls this year, it's a sales pitch that doesn't always reflect reality.
At an investor conference in Toronto in April, Mr. Engel pitched Organigram to a crowd of several hundred potential shareholders from Bay Street investment firms, telling them about the company's focus on producing high-quality medicine.
From there, the CEO focused on how big the market was going to be once legalization arrived in Canada, and how companies like his stood to profit.
The medical marijuana market was a few billion dollars now, he said. But the industry payday from legalization could be worth much more.
Even better for the industry, Mr. Engel told the audience, is the Canadian government had chosen companies like Organigram to supply this lucrative new market.
"Licensed producers are the preferred source for safe product," he told the audience. He did not mention the pesticide problems Organigram had encountered.
Lab data blacked out
Patients who consumed the tainted marijuana are now searching for answers about their health. Some former Organigram customers, like Wayne Jory, are worried.
Mr. Jory, a 55-year-old homebuilder and father, was never a marijuana smoker. He was prescribed Organigram's products starting in late 2014 after surgery to repair a herniated disc. He disliked the morphine he was given after the operation and found medical marijuana had fewer side effects.
Mr. Jory researched the industry carefully before settling on Organigram, selecting the company because they touted their product as safe, organic, and pesticide-free.
![](/proxy.php?image=https%3A%2F%2Farchive.li%2FnBK55%2F72e813cbe429356b4c376444966f13d1062747a0.JPG&hash=c7a82259aa4534938bcc2bc775a2ac14)
Wayne Jory, a longtime home builder who fell mysteriously ill after consuming medical marijuana that was later recalled due to banned pesticides, rests in one of his daughters’ rooms in his home in Murray Harbour, PEI.
DARREN CALABRESE/THE GLOBE AND MAIL
For a while there were no problems. But in May, 2016, Mr. Jory began to notice his lungs burning for days on end, his heart racing inexplicably, and pain shooting through his muscles. He soon began shedding weight – dropping 40 pounds from his 215-pound frame in only a few months. He felt tired all the time, and was dogged by severe, inexplicable bouts of nausea.
"Simple tasks like climbing stairs seemed to drain all my energy. My joints were aching," he said. "I could barely climb a ladder, and when I did, I felt unstable and dizzy."
His doctor was baffled. X-rays on Mr. Jory's lungs came back negative, as did basic blood tests.
"The fatigue was unreal," Mr. Jory said. "In January I went back to my doctor, he ordered more blood tests, and I was told that if I lost any more weight I'd have to get myself to the hospital."
Mr. Jory soon learned about the Organigram recall. Once the problem came to light, his doctor wanted to know exactly how much of the chemicals Mr. Jory had been exposed to, but the company only gave vague numbers for the whole recall, not specifics.
Mr. Jory then filed a request to Health Canada through Access to Information, seeking to know the exact chemical content of each product lot he ingested.
He was surprised to learn in May that he was not entitled to such information.
Mr. Jory was told by the Access to Information and Privacy commissioner for Health Canada that the data he sought was being withheld because it "could result in material financial loss" to a third party.
In his case, that third party was Organigram.
Instead, Mr. Jory received numerous pages of records with the information blacked out, citing privacy laws that, in his case, protected the company – not the consumer.
"They basically just want to bury this," Mr. Jory said. "And I understand why – it's everybody's dirty laundry."