Debra BorchardtWithin the surge of copycat lawsuits targeting cannabis companies over potency claims, two have been dropped in Illinois. Chad Alsip and Alex Martinez each filed notices with the Northern District of Illinois saying that they were voluntarily dismissing their claims against three entities, Ieso LLC, NuMed and HDC Group LLC, Law360 reported.
Alsip and Martinez are part of a group of plaintiffs represented by the firm Luisi Holz Law that has filed numerous lawsuits with the same general claim that cannabis companies are mislabeling their products.
In the Martinez case, Law360 reported that Judge John J. Tharp Jr. found that his complaint failed to show that the complaint met the requirements for federal jurisdiction under the Class Action Fairness Act and gave until March 18 to refile the complaint. Instead of refiling the complaint, Martinez entered his dismissal notice.
Alsip, along with his co-plaintiff Alan Warneke, filed their dismissal with the court on March 24.
Other lawsuits still active
Alsip still appears in two other suits on the same subject and represented by the same law firm. Green Market Report previously wrote that Alsip claimed that the various companies wrongly categorized cannabis concentrates as “cannabis-infused products,” or CIPs, to bypass the 500 milligram purchase limit on concentrates. By improperly classifying highly potent concentrates as vape oils, they were able to sell up to 5 grams at a time. The alleged bait-and-switch also violates the state limit of 100 milligrams of THC per vape oil cartridge, the suits claim.
The cases target all the major cannabis companies in the state. In February, Green Market Report reported that the cannabis companies filed a motion asking a federal judge to consolidate 10 related class action lawsuits over alleged product mislabeling. The complaint asked that seven “Vapable Oil” cases be consolidated with three existing “Rick Simpson Oil” cases already pending before Judge Thomas M. Durkin.
According to the motion, defendants, which include The Cannabist Co. (Cboe CA: CBST) (OTC: CBSTF), Verano (OTC: VRNOF) and numerous other cannabis operators, argued that all the cases raise the same legal questions and should be heard by one judge.
“Each case involves nearly identical questions of fact and law where the cases arise out of the same (incorrect) statutory interpretation and the same alleged conduct,” the defendants stated in their motion.
On March 19, the group, led by Liam Mohebbi, asked the judge not to consolidate the claims. Despite all of the cases featuring the same law firm, Mohebbi claimed that each case is against different sets of competitor defendants, concerns different products, and asserts varying claims and cannot be consolidated into the instant case. He also stated that some cases were further along than others, and that those would have to be paused while the others got caught up. He claimed that consolidation would not streamline the cases or assist in resolving the litigation.
Mohebbi also claimed that the court would still have to determine whether the individual products are considered smokable concentrates or cannabis-infused products, with the difference potentially coming down to the marketing and intended method of use.
“Given the defendant companies are competitors, there isn’t a common thread of advertising and marketing among them that could be assessed collectively through consolidation,” the court document stated.
