A 320-page lawsuit filed Monday takes aim at companies that sell legal marijuana in Illinois and many other states, claiming they have not told customers the possible mental health implications of cannabis use while claiming it has curative effects for other ailments.
The suit was filed in federal court in the Northern District of Illinois by – among other law firms – those of Pat Kenneally, the Republican former McHenry County state's attorney, and Jack Franks, a Democratic former Illinois lawmaker and one-term McHenry County Board chairman. Both are now in private practice. The suit also was filed in downstate Madison County, as well as in Connecticut courts, lawyers said.
The suit, which would need to be certified by courts as a class action, was filed on behalf of 40 named plaintiffs who bought cannabis in these legal states and say they were not warned about the mental health risks. The other states are Arizona, Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Rhode Island and Virginia.
The marijuana companies "market and promote their cannabis products to an unsuspecting public through a public relations megaphone as the antidote to ailments of all kinds, including, among others, insomnia, narcolepsy, over-eating, cancer, auto-immune disorders, neuropathy, pain, anger, boredom, sadness, shyness, irritable bowel syndrome, grief and opioid addiction.
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