[ad_1]
A coalition of anti-cannabis interests filed a lawsuit in state Supreme Court this week seeking to overturn New York’s legalization of marijuana, comparing the industry to tobacco companies that made fraudulent claims about their products.
The petition was filed in Albany by the Cannabis Impact Prevention Coalition and a group called Cannabis Industry Victims Seeking Justice, as well as eight individuals associated with those groups, including a former Delaware County STOP-DWI coordinator and a father who claims to be worried about his son’s marijuana consumption.
“What the tobacco companies have done the marijuana companies are doing now,” the petition states. “It is only a matter of time before there are RICO lawsuits against marijuana stores and growing operations in New York.”
The lawsuit asserts that marijuana consumption, sale and possession remains illegal under federal law and that the state Legislature usurped Congress when it passed the Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act in 2021, legalizing marijuana for adults and setting up a framework to roll out a retail industry that includes growers, processors and licensed shops.
The groups cite information they contend shows that marijuana consumption is harmful and that claims made about its medicinal benefits are unfounded and dangerous.
“False advertising may mislead vulnerable patients and the public,” the complaint states. “ ‘Medical’ use may inadvertently result in addiction, increased risk of psychosis, mental or psychosocial impairment, lung damage when smoked, and complications for unborn children when used during pregnancy. The presence of ‘medical marijuana’ dispensaries may increase access to recreational marijuana for minors.”
[ad_2]
Source link
