Brigette Honaker  |  December 10, 2020

Category: Beverages

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Hemp tea in a teacup with a hemp leaf, next to a muffin - Total Life Changes Tea

According to a recent class action lawsuit, Total Life Changes tea contains THC, despite advertisements to the contrary.

Plaintiff Ricardo Santiago says he purchased Total Life Changes Iaso Instant Tea with Broad-Spectrum Hemp Extract 0.0% THC in late summer 2020. A Total Life Changes salesperson reportedly recommended this product after Santiago revealed he was looking for a detox tea.

Hemp has become popular in recent years due to its use in textiles, food products and other products, according to Healthline. Despite its uses, hemp can be controversial due to its relationship to marijuana. Both hemp and marijuana are types of cannabis.

Legally, their differences lie in the content of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). THC is the psychoactive component of cannabis that makes marijuana a recreational drug. Unlike marijuana, which has a significant amount of THC, hemp is cannabis that contains less than 0.3% THC by dry weight.

Santiago says he was not interested in consuming hemp products that contained any THC. Due to this preference, Santiago reportedly relied on Total Life Changes’ representations that the product “utilizes a Broad-Spectrum Hemp Extract which contains 0.0% total THC as evidenced through independent laboratory tests.”

After relying on these statements, Santiago reportedly purchased and used the tea as directed.

However, he was later in for a surprise.

Despite representations the tea contains no THC, Santiago says the Total Life Changes tea did, in fact, contain THC. Unfortunately, this had serious consequences for Santiago, who is a parolee in New Jersey.

Not knowing he had consumed tea that contained THC, Santiago reportedly appeared for his regular parole appointment, during which he submit a drug test using urine. Shockingly to Santiago, this sample came back positive for THC.

“The positive test was extremely shocking to Plaintiff considering he had not knowingly ingested any THC products as he knew that he would be subject to incarceration for a violation of his parole,” the Total Life Changes tea class action lawsuit notes.

"Hemp" spelled out in chopped leaves on a white background - Total Life Changes Tea

Santiago told his parole officer he hadn’t knowingly ingested THC and he had recently purchased Total Life Changes tea, which could be the source of the positive drug test.

Despite the prominent representations the tea contained no THC, Santiago suspected the tea was the cause of his drug test failure.

Luckily for Santiago, his parole officer gave him a period of time to confirm his suspicions without worrying about his drug test results.

Santiago says he used this opportunity to send samples of the tea to a New Jersey lab in order to test for THC. After receiving the results, Santiago allegedly learned the product contained 700 parts per million of THC.

Due to these results, Santiago’s positive drug test was reportedly not considered to be a violation of his parole. However, Santiago says he quickly retained legal counsel and conducted further testing on the Total Life Changes tea in order to get to the bottom of the issue.

Further testing by a California lab allegedly showed the Total Life Changes tea contains 800 ppm of THC.

“Despite the exterior packaging of the subject tea specifically indicating that the product inside contains 0.0% THC, this is an absolute fallacy as two (2) of the above tests indicated that said tea contains THC,” the Total Life Changes tea class action lawsuit contends.

Santiago says he and other consumers relied on advertisements that the tea product did not contain THC. In fact, these statements allegedly influenced Santiago and other purchasers to pay a premium price for the tea.

If they had been aware of the truth, Santiago says, he and other consumers would not have purchased the products or, if they did purchase the tea, would have paid a significantly lower price for the item.

Santiago seeks to represent a nationwide Class of consumers who purchased the Iaso Instant Tea with Broad-Spectrum Hemp Extract 0.0% THC products.

Did you purchase Total Life Changes tea? Were you surprised to find the tea contains THC? Let us know in the comment section below.

Santiago and the proposed Class are represented by Jarred S. Freeman of the Law Office of Jarred S. Freeman LLC; Jonathan Greenbaum and Panida Pollawit of Coburn & Greenbaum PLLC; and Scot B. Richman of the Richman Law Firm PLLC.

The Total Life Changes Tea Class Action Lawsuit is Ricardo Santiago v. Total Life Changes LLC, et al., Case No. 2:20-cv-18581-SDW-LDW, in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.

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123 thoughts onTotal Life Changes Tea Allegedly Contains THC

  1. Sharlene Mullings says:

    You can add me to this lawsuit

  2. Sha B. says:

    I purchased and consumed this tea and coffee for months and recently showed positive on a drug screen for THC. Please add me to this lawsuit. The drug screen result caused me to lose my position.

  3. Kimberly J Davis says:

    Add me. Just recently took a drug screen for a new job and my test came back positive. I have never smoked marijuana in my life!! This caught me totally off guard.

  4. Diane Remick says:

    Hello I have purchased the tea. I ended up sick . Panicked I was having a diabetic reaction. Needless to say I was high from the dam tea. Very bad I also take pain meds I’m a amputee bad situation.

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