Arkansas medical cannabis company sued for exaggerating THC levels

Through Johanna Skopl

Three Arkansas residents have filed a federal lawsuit against four licensed medical marijuana companies operating in the state, alleging that they altered the THC levels on the labels of cannabis products they sell to medical cannabis users.

“Each plaintiff is filing this lawsuit to defend federal laws prohibiting the cultivation and sale of marijuana and their rights under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (“RICO”). Each plaintiff has “chronic pain and has been prescribed medical marijuana by a doctor,” according to the Plumlee et al. v. Steep Hill Inc. et al. Legal action.

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Companies being sued include Bold, Osage Cultivation, Natural State Medicinal, and most notably, Steep Hill Arkansas of Steep Hill Inc an average of 25% excessive,” according to the lawsuit.

“We have found over time that some marijuana was more potent than others despite being labeled with similar amounts of THC,” said plaintiffs Don Plumlee, Jakie Hanan and Pete Edwards. “RICO is working with Steep Hill Arkansas to create labels with higher THC results (…) Defendants used a phone, email or other means of communication to take action to support their efforts to illegally sell marijuana , which has been mislabeled hundreds of times,” the plaintiffs claimed.

“The RICO defendants together formed a perpetual partnership company with the goal of growing marijuana in Arkansas and selling it to dispensaries in Arkansas for purchase by the plaintiff,” the lawsuit continued. “To that end, they have combined their resources, knowledge, skills and work to achieve efficiencies in growing and distributing marijuana through the Company that neither of them could have achieved individually.”

Additionally, plaintiffs’ argument added that “if higher THC levels equate to higher sales, then a concerted effort to report those THC levels on Certificates of Analysis will result in consistently higher sales.”

Plaintiffs even argued that this type of activity in the state’s medical cannabis market would violate the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), when CSA stated that “the large-scale manufacture and distribution of marijuana is a serious criminal offense.”

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What do scientists say about the effects of THC?

According to a new study published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology, CBD may minimize some of THC’s negative effects on the brain. “THC is the main psychoactive, addictive, and psychotomimetic compound, while CBD may have adverse effects,” the study states.

“Cannabis is a very popular recreational drug and is beginning to be used medicinally for some purposes, but we still don’t know much about how different cannabinoids affect the brain,” said Matt Wall, the study author and a senior imaging scientist at Invicro.

This article originally appeared on Benzinga and has been republished with permission.