The Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission announced on Wednesday that it was investigating New England Treatment Access (NETA), one of the state\u2019s largest pot companies, for allegedly placing its employees in an unsafe working environment amid the COVID-19 crisis.<\/p>\n
NETA confirmed that two of its employees tested positive for the coronavirus this week. One employee worked at the company\u2019s Franklin cultivation and processing center. The other worked at NETA\u2019s Northampton dispensary. <\/p>\n
A NETA spokesperson released a statement that said both employees self-identified their symptoms, contacted management as soon as they felt ill, got tested, then voluntarily self-quarantined, the Boston Globe<\/em><\/u><\/a> reported. Additionally, the NETA spokesperson said that the company hired a third-party service to \u201cdeep clean\u201d its dispensary and cultivation facility after learning about the employees\u2019 positive coronavirus results. <\/p>\n However, Barbara Carrapichano, a patient adviser at NETA\u2019s Brookline dispensary, said the company has not provided masks to employees, nor has it installed shields between the budtenders and visiting patients. <\/p>\n \u201cWe see enough people that we could be a vector for this [virus] to spread exponentially,\u201d Carrapichano told the Boston Globe<\/em><\/u><\/a>, noting that many of the dispensary\u2019s patients have auto-immune disorders, which puts them at high-risk of succumbing to COVID-19. \u201cNETA has not set up an adequate response whatsoever. I have an auto-immune disorder myself and I\u2019m putting myself at risk every time I walk through those doors. My biggest concern is the people \u2014 everyone involved.”<\/p>\n