The Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs’ Cannabis Regulatory Agency makes sure cannabis companies are following regulations and issue punishments if they violate them.
The CRA recently released its list of cannabis businesses with violations for the month of November, The list includes two businesses in Southwest Michigan.
Multi-state dispensary corporation High Profile’s Kalamazoo location on West Michigan Ave was fined $3500 for selling recalled product on three separate occasions in February 2025.
Scott Hershberger’s business Symponia Farms in Battle Creek was fined $1,000 this year for having nearly 191 unlabeled plants during a 2023 inspection, according to a CRA report.
“We learned from this incident and it was for sure, you know, knowledge for us. There's no book on how to how to run a weed company," Hershberger said.
According to CRA regulations, all cannabis products — including plants being grown — must be tagged with a number the state can track. Hershberger says the original fine was around $7500 but was lowered after an appeals process in which Symponia appeared before a magistrate and asked for a review of the case.
“We ended up with basically a settlement of, 'you guys you did something wrong, it was nowhere near as egregious as we originally submitted. So if you're willing to take the offer we'll reduce the fee and everything will continue on,'" Hershberger said.
Hershberger said he believes the original fine was too hefty for the offense, and said the 191 unlabeled plants that made up the violation were only a fraction of the facility's total capacity of 2,000 plants.
“We had a problem with our inventory, but basically we had a room full of plants and we only flipped, I don't know, probably 75% of them to the proper tag and actually tagged them," Hershberger said.
He said Symponia has updated its protocols to make sure everything is properly tagged and said the reduced $1000 fine is small enough for the business to comfortably cover. But, Hershberger also said the appeals process to get the fine reduced was long, and added that he believes hefty fines should be reserved for businesses who continuously violate regulations on large scales.
High Profile did not respond to WMUK's request for comment.
