Thrive Dispensary Faces TCPA Class Action

Thrive Cannabis Marketplace joins the ranks of the marijuana dispensary chains facing claims that they violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.

In filing her Thrive Cannabis spam text class action lawsuit, Angelia Lilly takes issue with what she says is an all too popular, and illegal, marketing technique. She says that even though she did not agree to receive telemarketing communications, she received multiple spam text messages from Thrive. 

According to Lilly, she was not the only consumer to receive these messages. Instead, she was one of many consumers hit with the same texts, as they were sent en masse. She elaborates, saying that the messages were sent to advertise the company’s cannabis products. 

Because the messages touted Thrive Cannabis’ goods and services, she says that they are indeed considered telemarketing, and are therefore regulated by the federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). She says that these kinds of messages are only allowed by the law if a recipient has actively opted in to these messages, which, Lilly says, she did not.

Lilly says that the business not only violated the law in sending her unwanted text messages, but violated the law repeatedly because many other people who received the Thrive Cannabis Marketplace text messages did not previously consent to receive them.

The Thrive Cannabis spam messages class action lawsuit asserts that it was obvious that the text messages were sent automatically to many people. To support this argument, Lilly points to the generic nature of the messages, calling them “pre-written templates of impersonal text” that are the same as messages sent to other customers.

Did Thrive Dispensary Use an Autodialer?

She says that not only were they sent to many people, but they were automatically generated and put into pre-written templates without human intervention. She highlights this point because she states that the TCPA prohibits both the use of autodialers to send marketing messages without human intervention and sending messages en masse. She says that even if an automatic dialer has to be triggered by a person, it still dials the numbers itself, and therefore falls within the TCPA’s restrictions.

Lilly aims to hold Cheyenne Medical, which does business as Thrive Cannabis, accountable for what she says is knowing and willful violation of the TCPA. She says that the business could have or should have been aware of the TCPA’s restrictions, but sent the messages to consumers anyway, in the hopes of making a profit.

She also seeks statutory damages on behalf of herself and other consumers, noting that message recipients are allowed by law to collect damages for TCPA violations. Dispensaries in California, Oregon, Nevada, and Arizona have faced similar claims. Miami New Times reported on one such claim filed in the Sunshine State.

Other customers have complained similarly that they received messages from cannabis dispensaries in violation of the TCPA.

Forbes explains that marijuana use and sale has become increasingly legal in recent years. Reportedly, 33 states and the District of Columbia allow medical marijuana use and sale, while 10 states and the District of Columbia have embraced both medical and recreational sale and use.

According to Forbes, this increased legalization has led to a significant expansion of the marijuana industry, and that growth is expected to continue with an expected growth of 14 percent over the next six years. 

As companies vie for popularity in this growing market, they may be turning to aggressive marketing tactics to gain new customers. In the eyes of recipients of many spam texts and calls, these dispensaries may be violating the TCPA in the process. 

The Thrive Cannabis Marketplace TCPA Violation Class Action Lawsuit is Lilly v. Cheyenne Medical LLC, Case No. 2:20-cv-01051, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada.

This article is not legal advice. It is presented
for informational purposes only.