A man who says he had little to no experience using cannabis products filed a $10,000 lawsuit against a Portland store last week, saying an employee recommended a grossly excessive dose of THC that sent him to a local emergency room with vomiting, loss of motor function and an inability to walk on his own.
Skye Fitzgerald’s lawsuit states that he told an employee at Arcanna on Northeast Fremont Street that he was a novice user, then abided by the employee’s advice to “follow the directions on the bottle” by taking “about a capful” of the THC syrup that the store sold him.
The suit states that once at home, Fitzgerald followed the bottle’s instructions, measuring out what amounted to a teaspoon of the syrup and then consuming it. That worked out to be about 40 milligrams of THC, according to the lawsuit.
The Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission, the state agency that regulates the industry, doesn’t offer any dosage guidelines for recreational users of THC, the chemical compound found in marijuana. But Oregon administrative rules require companies that sell edible THC products to list a serving size as no more than 10 mg. The state, however, doesn’t apply a serving size limit to “Tinctures,” “Concentrate” or “Extract,” which may have been the categories that the syrup Fitzgerald bought fell into.
Private organizations or governments outside Oregon go further. Washington publishes a “consumer’s guide” to using marijuana that recommends starting with a serving size of 5 mg or less for edibles, while cautioning users to “begin with a small amount” when ingesting concentrates.
The government of British Columbia also published a “fact sheet” that recommends first-time users start with a 2.5 mg in products that they eat or drink. That’s 16 times less than the amount Fitzgerald’s lawsuit says he took.
Fitzgerald “thereafter experienced muscle spasms, psychomotor agitation, elevated heart rate, extreme discomfort, shortness of breath, nausea, vomiting, hypokalemia, and muscular paresis,” according to the lawsuit. “During his hospital stay, his care providers observed that he was unable to walk without assistance. His doctors diagnosed him with THC overdose.”
Kris Synder, Arcanna’s managing director, told The Oregonian/OregonLive that the store isn’t at fault because it was only selling a product that was approved by the OLCC. On top of that, Synder said the store’s “budtender” that Fitzgerald sought advice from recommended only “a few drops,” not the amount that was listed on the box.
Furthermore, Synder said budtenders have no way of knowing how much THC customers should take because everyone has different tolerance levels.
“At the end of the day, it’s like going to a bar and asking the bartender ‘How much alcohol is going to get me drunk?’” Snyder said. “You don’t hear of anybody suing the bar because somebody got drunk.”
The suit doesn’t name the brand of THC syrup Fitzgerald bought and does not list the manufacturer as a defendant. But Snyder said the store stopped selling it after Fitzgerald complained.
Fitzgerald is a documentary filmmaker who lives in Clackamas County and has twice been nominated for Academy Awards. His lawsuit was filed in Multnomah County Circuit Court by Milwaukie lawyer Erik Wilson.
— Aimee Green covers breaking news and the justice system. Reach her at 503-294-5119, agreen@oregonian.com or @o_aimee.
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The man, a novice user, says he overdosed on THC syrup after following the advice of a store employee. Read More
