Lawsuits

The mother of William Benjamin Harris IV, a 19-year-old who was shot and killed during a June 2019 cannabis delivery-gone-bad, is now suing Weedmaps and a California vape shop saying they are responsible for her son’s death.

Following the departure of multiple member dispensaries, the Massachusetts Commonwealth Dispensary Association has dropped its lawsuit protesting the state’s social equity provisions for adult-use cannabis delivery licenses.

The Massachusetts Commonwealth Dispensary Association is suing state regulators over a plan to only issue cannabis delivery licenses to social equity applicants for the first three years. Advocates, meanwhile, have lauded the provisions.

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem issued an executive order on Friday contending that the cannabis legalization initiative passed by voters in November violated the state’s constitution.

The Mississippi Attorney General’s office has submitted court arguments slamming a lawsuit seeking to overturn the state’s massively successful bid to legalize medical cannabis.

Oregon’s Deschutes County has announced a lawsuit saying it should be paid a portion of the state’s cannabis tax revenue despite having banned any new cannabis processing and cultivation facilities in the county in 2019.

Cannabis researcher Dr. Lyle Craker has filed suit over the DEA’s failure to license additional growers for research-grade cannabis.

Colorado CBD firm Folium Biosciences is being sued for allegedly dumping hemp waste including ethanol into the grounds surrounding its facility.

MedMen has filed suit against the city of Pasadena, California in an effort to block the city’s cannabis business licensing process after the company was removed from consideration following a major ownership/management shift.

A lawsuit against Missouri’s medical cannabis system claims the state-imposed license caps violate Missourians’ constitutional right to farm.

More cannabis companies are being targeted by class-action lawsuits over automated calls and text messages made potentially in violation of the Federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act.

Los Angeles is being sued over plans to issue cannabis delivery licenses exclusively to social equity applicants until 2025.

The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear a high-profile cannabis case that challenged the constitutionality of federal cannabis prohibition. Advocates behind the case said they were disappointed, but not surprised.

Aurora Cannabis is facing a class-action lawsuit that alleges the company made “false and misleading statements” about its business, operational, and compliance policies.

The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania has allowed a cannabis patient’s lawsuit against her former employer to move forward; the patient alleges she was wrongfully fired due to her cannabis use.

A former NYPD officer is suing the department after being forced into early retirement due to his status as a registered medical cannabis patient. The lawsuit alleges extreme instances of workplace harassment, disability discrimination, and retaliation.

The couple behind the cannabis-friendly cryptocurrency ParagonCoin, which launched in 2017, failed to appear in court and may be on the run after they were fined $250,000 by the SEC and told to refund $12 million to investors.

A Florida-based attorney has filed federal lawsuits against at least three cannabis companies in Michigan, claiming the companies sent unsolicited marketing text messages or automated phone calls without proper consent.

Hemp entrepreneurs and advocates are suing the state of Texas over regulations that ban smokeable forms of hemp products, arguing that the ban is unconstitutional.

A great-grandmother is suing Disney after she was arrested at the company’s Florida theme park last year for carrying hemp-derived CBD oil, which is legal under federal law.

In 2018, Nevada awarded 61 state licenses to just 17 applicants, and many applicants who were not selected sued state officials. A recently proposed settlement to that lawsuit would see 10 cannabis licenses shifted to new owners in the state, but some of the plaintiffs are calling for the settlement to be thrown out.

Clint Eastwood is suing a host of CBD companies for allegedly using his name and likeness to promote their products without his permission.

Four New Mexico medical cannabis brands are accusing the state of adopting “arbitrary and capricious” rules, some of which appear to be copy-pasted from other states including a testing requirement for mycotoxins which have never been found in New Mexico-grown cannabis.

Anti-cannabis activists in Arizona are suing to prevent the state’s voter initiative to legalize adult-use cannabis from appearing on the November ballot, arguing that the petition summary didn’t give voters the full picture.