Can You Sue An Individual State For Legalizing Cannabis? This Group Thinks So And Goes After New York

The New York cannabis market is facing yet another challenge. This time in the form of a  lawsuit. A group of anti-marijuana activists filed a suit in the state Supreme Court last week in an attempt to overturn New York's legalization of the plant.

What happened: The petition, filed in Albany by the Cannabis Impact Prevention Coalition and the Cannabis Industry Victims Seeking Justice, argues that the marijuana industry is moving in the same direction as the tobacco industry by making false claims about its products, writes Times Union.

“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 points out that cannabis remains a Schedule 1 Substance on a federal level and that the New York Legislature “usurped Congress” when it passed the Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act (MRTA) in 2021. The coalition also claims that the medical benefits of marijuana are unfounded and dangerous.

“‘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,” the lawsuit reads.

Why it matters: David G. Evans, a New Jersey attorney and organizer of the group Cannabis Industry Victims Seeking Justice, says this is the first lawsuit of its kind in the U.S.

“The biggest problem that we deal with is the public perception that marijuana is relatively harmless,” said Evans, formerly a researcher with the New Jersey Division of Alcohol and Drug Abuse. “And the American industry is very smart and they began pushing it as a medicine. And that’s how they gained a lot of their money during the Bush administration. Then they plowed that into lobbyists and focus groups and so forth, and then began turning state after state.”

New York's Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) declined to comment, reported the outlet.

New York’s Cannabis Struggles

The main challenge facing the Empire State's attempts to get the legal market up and running is the proliferation of illegal operators. In its latest shot at the thousands of illegal operations, the OCM posted emergency regulations on unlicensed activities.  

In terms of lawsuits, the OCM was sued in March by the Coalition for Access to Regulated and Safe Cannabis (CARSC), for allegedly violating the MRTA by reserving the first 150 adult-use retail licenses for social equity applicants, which is widely viewed as having slowed the legalization process to a near halt.

See also: NY Gov. Hochul Shuts Down Illicit Cannabis Shops, Pace Of New Stores Is 'Frustrating'

Photo: Benzinga edit with images by Billion Photos and Yarygin by Shutterstock