Cannabis regulators suspend Tonopah cultivator

TONOPAH — State cannabis regulators suspended the licenses of a Tonopah cannabis cultivator on Wednesday, citing threats to the public’s health and safety after they allegedly found several irregularities at the operation.

The Nevada Cannabis Compliance Board shut down The Hempire Co. and said company officials would be required to submit a plan and correct deficiencies before being allowed to resume business.

CCB agents say they were investigating “suspicious activity” when they discovered excessive cannabis extract outputs in products from the facility.

CCB agents determined that “failed” or “untested” cannabis at the facility may have tainted other commercial-grade cannabis. They reportedly discovered approximately 180 packages missing from cultivation, 10 packages missing from production, and two large bags of usable cannabis in the dumpster.

“There were no working cameras in the greenhouses, conex boxes, or other areas where cannabis was being grown and dried,” a spokesperson for the CCB said. “Cannabis was observed drying outside and in a conex box with no environmental controls.”

Board agents cited other significant deficiencies at the facility too.

Cameras that are supposed to be installed to help monitor operations provided inadequate coverage at the facility, they claim.

The Hempire Co. LLC is registered to David Baker at 1181 U.S. Highway 95 in Tonopah. The business holds a medical, adult-use cultivation and production license for cannabis, which was legalized in Nevada in 2017.

Baker could not be reached on Thursday for comment.

The Nevada Cannabis Compliance Board was established in 2019 and governs the state’s cannabis industry through strict regulation of all areas of its licensing and operations, protecting the public health and safety of our citizens and visitors while holding cannabis licensees to the highest ethical standards.

In 2022, a Pahrump cannabis cultivator that had operated illegally for nearly three years was fined $565,000 for failing to tag its plants for the state-mandated seed-to-sale tracking system and operating with expired licenses, among other violations.

The Nevada Cannabis Compliance Board disciplined Green Cross of America for allegedly violating several rules after conducting a routine inspection of the Pahrump-based business.

Editor Brent Schanding can be emailed at bschanding@pvtimes.com.