Three subsidiaries of a major cannabis company filed a lawsuit Wednesday accusing a network of out-of-state manufacturers and local smoke shops of flooding Pennsylvania with unregulated, high-potency THC products disguised as legal hemp, eroding the state’s tightly controlled medical marijuana market and endangering public health.
The complaint, filed in the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County, claims the defendants’ products — including THC-infused flower, vapes, gummies and edibles — violate Pennsylvania’s THC limits and bypass the licensing, testing and safety rules that licensed dispensaries must follow.
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The plaintiffs, Agape Total Health Care Inc., Franklin Bioscience – Penn LLC and Franklin Bioscience – SE LLC, operate 18 medical marijuana dispensaries under the Beyond Hello brand, including three in Philadelphia. They are wholly owned by subsidiaries of Jushi Holdings Inc., a publicly traded cannabis firm.
According to the filing, the defendants have “established a distribution pipeline” to sell intoxicating cannabinoid products without licenses, granting them “a substantial and unlawful economic advantage” over regulated operators. The suit seeks to halt the defendants’ activities, recover damages and protect Pennsylvania’s medical cannabis framework.
The defendants named in the complaint include Florida-based Golden Hour LLC, Maryland’s SUPERGREENSHEMPCO LLC, several Texas entities such as MC Botanicals LLC, MC Nutraceuticals LLC, MC Vivimus LLC and WYATT PURP LLC, California’s Revelry Supply Inc., Florida’s DC Brands LLC, and two Philadelphia-area retailers: Black Market Shoppe Limited Liability Co. and South Street Market 1 Inc.
The filing alleges the products exceed Pennsylvania’s 0.3 percent delta-9 THC limit for hemp, often containing levels comparable to marijuana sold in licensed dispensaries. It claims defendants exploit a “perceived loophole” in the 2018 federal Farm Bill by producing compounds like delta-8 THC, delta-10 THC and high-THCA flower from hemp-derived CBD, resulting in psychoactive items sold without oversight.
Under Pennsylvania’s Medical Marijuana Act, the complaint states, cannabis products must be grown, processed and sold only by licensed entities under the Department of Health’s supervision, with requirements for testing, seed-to-sale tracking, child-resistant packaging and age verification.
Hemp is regulated separately by the Department of Agriculture, but the filing asserts intoxicating products over the THC threshold fall under marijuana laws and are illegal outside the licensed system.
The suit cites a July 29, 2025, Philadelphia Inquirer investigation that found nine out of 10 tested hemp products from southeastern Pennsylvania exceeded the 0.3 percent THC limit, with some at 200 percent to over 2,400 percent above it. According to the filing, the report also revealed contaminants like pesticides, heavy metals, mold and forged certificates of analysis in many samples, and noted a surge in THC-related poison control calls at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia from 27 in 2019 to 332 in 2023.
The complaint alleges this unregulated market has caused “substantial and continuing losses” to the plaintiffs, including direct economic harm from lost sales and reputational damage when adverse events from illicit products are blamed on the licensed industry. It claims defendants’ deceptive marketing confuses consumers and shifts compliance burdens onto lawful operators.
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