A federal class-action lawsuit accuses three Chicago-based cannabis companies of deceptively marketing marijuana products as treatments for various medical conditions while downplaying potential risks.
The complaint, filed by Weitz & Luxenberg, targets companies in 13 states and is brought by consumers who claim the products were deceptively marketed.
“These manufacturers make representations about health benefits that are unfounded while failing to warn about health risks,” said Weitz & Luxenberg’s James Bilsborrow in a news release.
The complaint cites research linking cannabis use to mental health conditions including psychosis, depression, and anxiety, and argues consumers were not adequately warned.
According to the lawsuit, the companies 'deceptively marketed' cannabis products as helping to treat mental and physical ailments — including anxiety, pain, insomnia, and autoimmune disorders — even though marijuana is not FDA-approved to treat those conditions.
'Cannabis purveyors 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. These claims are part of a calculated strategy in which the cannabis industry, including Defendants Cresco Labs, Green Thumb, Verano Holdings, and Verano LLC, have unleashed an acute intoxicant — tetrahydrocannabinol ('THC') — at unprecedentedly high concentrations on its customers.'
The suit also points to research linking cannabis use to mental health conditions like schizophrenia, depression, and anxiety, citing several studies including a 2017 report from the National Academy of Sciences: '[T]here is substantial evidence of a statistical association between cannabis use and the development of schizophrenia or other psychoses, with the highest risk among the most frequent users.'
Health care providers across the country in March reported spikes in cases of cannabinoid (or cannabis) hyperemesis syndrome, or CHS, a painful, sometimes debilitating condition linked to chronic, long-term marijuana use.
A 2025 study found that 4.4 out of 100,000 emergency department visits were diagnosed as CHS in 2016. In 2020, the rate jumped to 33.1 per 100,000 visits before dropping in 2022 to 22.3 per 100,000.