Stiiizy pushes back on claims of excessive THC

California-based cannabis company Stiiizy is asking the courts to dismiss a case against it that alleges the company sells vape and edible products with too much THC. The case is centered on the company’s hemp products not its regulated THC cannabis products. Both federal and state laws permit the creation and sale of hemp products for consumer use, provided that the products contain no more than 0.3% delta-9 (“D9”) THC on a “dry weight basis.”

Delta 8 (“D8”) products are legal and are typically manufactured from hemp-derived cannabidiol (CBD). They are not evaluated or approved by the FDA. The D8 products typically provide a much smaller psychoactive effect than D9, if any at all.

The case was brought by Taylor Byron and Taylor Berry and filed in the Southern District of Illinois. They claimed that Stiiizy intentionally misrepresented to consumers that certain D8 products they purchased in Illinois or Missouri contained less than 0.3% active THC when Stiiizy knew or should have known that they contained more. They allege that Stiiizy did this in order to get around the regulated cannabis market rules.

The case stated that Illinois resident Byron purchased just one product—a “Delta 8 Stiiizy Starter Pack”—at “Vape X” in Swansea, Illinois.  Missouri resident Berry also purchased just one product, the Delta 8 Stiiizy Starter Pack, at a retail location in Chesterfield Missouri, “Green Dragon CBD.” They claim that when tested the THC levels were higher than the allowable 0.3%.

Stiiizy pushes back

Stiizy is fighting back and claiming that the plaintiffs didn’t actually say they tested the Starter Pack product. Stiiizy says in its dismissal request that the two claim a single undated laboratory test was performed on a different product, the “Stiiizy Skywalker OG Pen D8”. The Memorandum stated that such a test would have had to be done on the liquid content of the product, not on the plant itself pre-harvest as required by federal regulations— that allegedly returned results showing that a single product contained more than 0.3% active THC.

Stiizy also pushed back on the fraud claims that the company knew of these issues and allowed the labeling and packaging to claim otherwise. Stiiizy says there is no proof of these allegations. Calling it a “sue first, ask questions later” strategy, Stiiizy accuses the plaintiffs of having no evidence to support their claims of fraud.

The cannabis company took issues with the case being filed in Illinois since it isn’t located there. The memorandum stated, “a single in-state purchase from an unrelated retailer is too thin a reed to support jurisdiction.”

In addition to that, Stiiizy points out that the parties have to show some sort of harm to bring the case. Stiiizy said that the plaintiffs haven’t claimed to have suffered any personal injury, property damage, or health consequences as a result of their D8 product purchases.