A former McHenry County State’s Attorney and a former McHenry County board chairman are teaming up to sue companies selling marijuana in Illinois and other states for allegedly not properly informing customers of the possible mental health implications of the cannabis they consume.
In a 320-page lawsuit filed in the Northern District of Illinois by former McHenry County State’s Attorney Pat Kenneally and Jack Franks, a former Illinois lawmaker and one-term McHenry County Board chairman, marijuana companies are accused of marketing cannabis as a cure for numerous ailments when, in reality, there has never been any proof that marijuana does what the companies claim.
The federal lawsuit names Cresco Labs and Green Thumb Industries of British Columbia and Canada, Verano Holdings of Nevada and Delaware.
The suit names roughly 40 plaintiffs.
The lawsuit claims cannabis companies market and promote their products to an unsuspecting public as the antidote to ailments like insomnia, narcolepsy, over-eating, cancer, auto-immune disorders, neuropathy, pain, anger, boredom, sadness, shyness, irritable bowel syndrome, grief, and opioid addiction, the suit alleges.
“These claims are part of a calculated strategy in which the cannabis industry, including Defendants … has unleashed an acute intoxicant tetrahydrocannabinol (“THC”) at unprecedently high concentrations on its customers,” the lawsuit alleges.
The suit continues that these companies have known at all relevant times that their cannabis products “have not been approved as a treatment for a single medical disorder by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and that no credible scientific research has established that cannabis is safe and effective in treating mental health or other health disorders in the manner they claim.”
In addition, the suit claims a review in 2025 published in the Journal of the American Medical Association of 124 recent randomized controlled trials found that the evidence that cannabis treats disorders such as pain, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), insomnia, and most other hyped uses is weak or non-existent.
“The position of the American Psychiatric Association (“APA”) as of December of 2025 is that there is insufficient evidence that cannabis is an effective treatment for any psychiatric disorder,” the lawsuit contends.
Steve Mazeika, vice president of communications for Verano, told the Northwest Herald that states have recognized the medical benefits of marijuana.
“The medical use and benefits of cannabis have … long been recognized by the states themselves, as reflected in the comprehensive medical marijuana programs that state legislatures and regulators have established and overseen for years,” Mazeika said.
No monetary amount is mentioned in the lawsuit, except that the plaintiffs are seeking statutory, punitive, and multiple damages as provided by law.
A future court date is unknown at this time.