In a case set to be heard by the Supreme Court, former commercial truck driver Douglas Horn has challenged his dismissal from work following a failed drug test which he attributes to using CBD oil advertised as containing no THC, the psychoactive substance in marijuana.
Horn worked as a lorry driver for 14 years until after an accident prompted him to discover promotional materials claiming that ‘Dixie X’ – produced and sold by various organisations, including Medical Marijuana Inc – was a CBD-rich medication with no THC content whatsoever. After using the product in late 2012, Horn tested positive for drugs at work weeks later; however, he claims to have never consumed marijuana previously.
Horn submitted his complaint against these organisations through federal courts, arguing that their breaches of controlled drug laws and allegedly deceptive mail and wire communications had led him into this situation. The Western District Court in New York agreed with Horn’s RICO Act-based claim; however, Medical Marijuana Inc has appealed to the Supreme Court on grounds that allowing such lawsuits would significantly expand civil RICO litigation beyond its original scope of targeting organised crime families under President Richard Nixon’s 1970 legislation.
The federal case which formed in reaction against alleged rackets led by ‘La Cosa Nostra’, has also been adopted into state laws, such as Georgia’s statute that is currently being used to prosecute former US president Donald Trump for election interference allegations. The RICO Act allows individuals who have suffered financial or property losses under specific conditions the ability to bring a private civil suit; however, some circuit courts of appeal in federal jurisdictions maintain that personal injury claims are not eligible grounds on which to file such cases.
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