A multistate hashish operator primarily based in Pennsylvania has filed a lawsuit claiming that smoke retailers and different hemp THC product retailers have interaction in unfair commerce practices that undercut the authorized hashish business, the Philadelphia Inquirer studies.

The grievance was filed on Wednesday by a number of subsidiaries of Scranton-based Jushi Holdings Inc., which operates 18 medical hashish retailers within the state.

Grownup-use hashish stays prohibited in Pennsylvania. Nonetheless, like in lots of different states, the federal legalization of commercial hemp — and subsequent proliferation of intoxicating hemp merchandise, dubbed “fuel station weed” within the grievance — has led to a leisure, hemp-based grey marketplace for THC.

“The inflow of those unlawful merchandise into unregulated retail channels immediately undermines the Commonwealth’s regulated medical marijuana program. This scheme grants [smoke shops] a considerable and illegal financial benefit, shifts compliance burdens onto lawful operators, endangers public well being, and destabilizes the regulated market.” — Excerpt from the lawsuit

Lawmakers within the Pennsylvania Home this 12 months authorised an adult-use hashish legalization invoice, however the proposal died shortly within the Senate.

In the meantime, 4 out of Pennsylvania’s 5 neighboring states — New York, New Jersey, Maryland, and Ohio — and neighboring Canada have all adopted insurance policies to legalize and regulate adult-use hashish.