Customers sue California Marijuana company for overstating THC Potency in its joints

Two marijuana consumers have sued a California marijuana company because its joints contain a lower percentage of THC that declared and accused it of false advertising.

According to the plaintiffs, the preroll joint advertised as the one "that will get you to Mars quicker than Elon Musk" allegedly raised concerns over the mislabeling of marijuana products to sell at a higher price.

The plaintiffs, Jasper Centeno of Long Beach and Blake Wilson of Fresno, are involved in a suit against the defendant, California marijuana company DreamFields Brands, Inc. and Med for America, for false advertising.

Santa Monica-based law firm Dovel & Luner seeks unspecified damages and restitution for the two plaintiffs who purchased the allegedly mislabeled products and class-action status for the lawsuit.

The lawsuit, filed on October 20, states that the plaintiffs purchased DreamFields Brands' Jeeter pre-rolled joints, which allegedly had a THC content lower than was advertised, and, therefore, the declaration of THC content on the company's labels is false.

"Testing by independent labs reveals that the true THC content of Defendants' products is materially less than the amount listed on the label. Moreover, the difference is far greater than the 10% margin of error that DCC [California's Department of Cannabis Control] regulations permit," the lawsuit states.

The margin of error for THC content on product packaging that the California Department of Cannabis Control allows is 10%.

For instance, if the label states that a product is 30% THC, the product must be between 27%-33% THC.

But if the product contains only 25% THC, the label would violate California regulations and be inaccurate and mislabeled.

The lawsuit cites independent lab tests of Jeeter products performed by Weed Week and published in an article published in September showing that the THC content in several products, including Jeeter pre-rolls, was substantially lower than declared on the package.

In particular, WeedWeek tested two products belonging to Jeeter.

The Baby Jeeter Fire OG Diamond Infused 5-pack preroll label reported the product contained 46% THC. However, two independent lab tests showed it had between 23% and 27% of THC, an alleged inflation of 70%-100%.

The Baby Jeeter Churros Diamond Infused 5-pack preroll label reported the product contained 37% THC, but the same two labs revealed that it had between 26% and 29% of THC, an alleged inflation of 28%-42%.

As the THC content of marijuana drives consumer purchasing decisions and the final price of the products, the plaintiffs, who bought different Jeeter products between August and September, saw and relied on representations on the product label regarding the specific THC content listed, and they would not have purchased the products or would have paid less for them if they had known the truth, according to the lawsuit.

Therefore, Centeno and Wilson claim that "defendants are systematically overstating the THC content to deceive consumers into thinking that the effects of their prerolls are more potent than they truly are. This is false and misleading. And, it violates DCC regulations and California law."

In an interview with CNN, Christin Cho, one of the attorneys representing Centeno and Wilson, said that the plaintiffs claim DreamFields Brands is "overcharging consumers."

However, Jeeter, the subsidiary of DreamFields that produced the joints, denied the "baseless and ridiculous" allegations in a statement shared with CNN.

The statement states that the allegations regarding the brand's THC level are false, and the company is committed to state-mandated testing procedures, including independent, third-party testing.

"However baseless and ridiculous these claims are, we take them very seriously and look forward to the truth coming to light," the company added.

Cannabis lab-testing standards have been under scrutiny recently because of allegations that labs are inflating THC numbers to help their clients sell products.

Furthermore, several studies on cannabinoid products have shown that the THC or CBD content labeled on the packaging doesn't match the actual potency of the cannabinoids tested by third-party labs.