As the idiom goes, once is an exception, twice is a coincidence, thrice is a trend. Well, there are so many Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) complaints being filed against cannabis businesses that it is far beyond the realm of idiom. Three different TCPA class actions have been filed against cannabis dispensaries just within the state of California recently.
The details of the three class actions—Christian Lemus v. 2015 Halladay Wellness, Inc., Ronny McConn v. Soar Collective, Inc. d/b/a Orange County Cannabis Club, and Aram Sargsyan v. Empire Twin Palms, LLC and A1, A CA Commercial Cannabis Association, Inc.—are all essentially the same. The plaintiffs allege, on behalf of a purported nationwide class, that these cannabis dispensaries sent marketing text messages without consent. This is a common model for the increasing proliferation of cannabis-related TCPA litigation.
Cannabis businesses operate within an exciting but precarious space in the economy. As an emerging business sector of varying, sometimes contradictory degrees of legality, cannabis businesses are necessarily careful about maintaining compliance with drug and healthcare regulations. But it has become clear that they need to maintain a similar level of vigilance with regards to telemarketing regulations. TCPA litigators are targeting cannabis businesses and those who do not emphasize compliance face significant risks.