CNN
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Two disgruntled customers sued a California marijuana company, claiming their pre-rolled joints weren’t as strong as claimed.
The lawsuit was filed on October 20 against DreamFields Brands, Inc. for falsely claiming that their products have a high THC component, according to the lawsuit. THC, or tetrahydrocannabinol, is the compound in marijuana that makes users feel high.
The two plaintiffs, Jasper Centeno of Long Beach and Blake Wilson of Fresno, accuse the company of unfair competition, misleading advertising and negligent representation. The two claim to have purchased pre-rolled “Jeeter” branded joints advertised as high in THC.
The California Department of Cannabis Control requires companies to label cannabis products with their THC content, expressed as a percentage or in milligrams. And the THC content on the label must be within 10% of the actual THC content, according to the department’s code of regulations.
“Since cannabis users generally prefer and are willing to pay more for high THC cannabis products, claiming that their products have a very high THC content allows defendants to charge premium rates for their products. based on cannabis, “states the lawsuit.
But an independent test revealed that the joints actually had lower THC content than claimed, meaning customers were overpaying for a weaker product, the lawsuit claims.
DreamFields is “systematically overestimating THC content to trick consumers into thinking the effects of their prerolls are more potent than they actually are,” say Centeno and Wilson in the lawsuit.
Christin Cho, one of the attorneys representing Centeno and Wilson, told CNN that the plaintiffs say DreamFields Brands is “overloading consumers.”
Centeno and Wilson filed the lawsuit “to protect California consumers, to protect cannabis users from being overloaded,” Cho said in a statement shared with CNN.
Jeeter, the DreamFields subsidiary that produced the joints, denied the “baseless and ridiculous” allegations in a statement shared with CNN.
“The allegations regarding our THC levels are false,” the statement said. “We are proud of our compliance and commitment to state-mandated testing procedures, including independent third-party testing. The product and our integrity (are) something we truly value as a company and we take all appropriate and legal steps before our product hits the shelves. ”
“As baseless and ridiculous as these claims are, we take them very seriously and look forward to the truth coming to light,” the company added.
According to their website, Jeeter’s “strongest joints” contain at least 30% THC. The lawsuit cites tests performed by the cannabis publication Weed Week, which found that although some of the Jeeter products were labeled as containing up to 46% THC, they actually only had between 23 and 27% THC.
