Cannabis vaporizers are actually edibles with THC, lawsuit claims

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An Illinois cannabis consumer has filed class action lawsuits against two marijuana companies, alleging they are selling products “with excessively high” amounts of THC in violation of state limits.

Using a novel interpretation of Illinois law, Chad Aslip filed separate lawsuits last week in federal court against Wellness Group Pharms, a state-licensed cultivator, and New York-headquartered Acreage Holdings.

Alsip’s lawsuit names:

Acreage Holdings, a multistate operator acquired in December by Canada-based Canopy Growth Corp., and related companies such as In Grown Farm.
Wellness Group Pharms and related companies Aeriz, Aeriz Management and WGP Holdings.

According to his suit, Aslip – who lives in Kane County, west of metro Chicago – purchased at least seven 1-gram vaporizer cartridges from local marijuana stores.

At the crux of his lawsuits is a novel contention that cannabis-oil vaporizer cartridges should be considered edibles under Illinois law instead of smoking products because vapes do “not utilize combustion.”

On that basis, Aslip’s suits allege, the defendants sell “cannabis-infused products” that “vastly exceed the applicable THC limits” set by state law.

Like many other states, Illinois caps the amount of THC allowed in edibles, called “cannabis infused products” in state law, to no more than 100 milligrams of THC.

However, Aslip’s suits contend that vaporizer cartridges – which the two companies “manufacture, market, label, and package … as though they were (smokable) concentrates” – of up to 1 gram in size contain much more THC than 100 milligrams.

On this basis, his lawsuits allege, Aslip was “misled and harmed.”

Alsip is being represented by Chicago-based Luisi Holz Law.

Court records show that same firm has filed similar suits against at least six other cannabis companies in Illinois, including a December action filed in Cook County against marijuana MSO Cresco Labs.

Chicago-based Cresco filed a motion earlier this month seeking a dismissal.

The plaintiff in that case, Felix Rodriguez, has until February to file a response, records show.

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