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A group of legal advisors and cannabis consultants is launching a class action suit against the Société québécoise du cannabis (SQDC), alleging the provincial cannabis agency does not comply with the Consumer Protection Act (CPA).
The organization, Groupe SGF, is bringing the class action to court on behalf of the plaintiff, Gabriel Bélanger. Bélanger argues that the SQDC forces people to make “blind purchases” of cannabis products listed on their website.
“All cannabis products which are sold online and which have the mention “strain rotating” in their description sheet do not comply with the CPA since it provides that consumers must have access to a description which includes the characteristics and technical specifications,” says a press release from Groupe SGF. “By not allowing consumers to know what variety is in the product when ordering, the SQDC forces consumers to make blind purchases.”
Groupe SGF says their goal with this collective action is justice for cannabis consumers. The class action includes anyone who has purchased cannabis in the “dried flower” and “pre-rolled” categories for which the strain displayed on the SQDC website has been “strain rotating” since October 17, 2018.
“The SQDC, a state-owned company, appears to be violating its own Consumer Protection Act, and it seems abnormal to us that cannabis consumers in Quebec are forced to make blind purchases when they buy cannabis on the only legal cannabis sales site in the province,” said Maxime Guérin, a lawyer with Groupe SGF.
Groupe SGF is a Quebec law firm specializing in the cannabis industry.
Bélanger and Guérin are involved in another cannabis-industry-related class action suit filed in 2023 alleging that several Canadian banks have engaged in financial discrimination against legal cannabis businesses.
The SQDC was not immediately available for comment.
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