Marijuana Company Sues DoorDash, Total Wine And Others Over Alleged Illegal Sales Of Hemp THC Products

A subsidiary of a multi-state marijuana company is suing DoorDash, Total Wine and several other businesses for allegedly violating Virginia hemp laws by marketing cannabis products that exceed the legal THC limit.

In a lawsuit filed with the Virginia Circuit Court of Arlington County on Wednesday, Jushi Holdings Inc. subsidiary Dalitso LLC claimed that defendants have engaged in a “deliberate and coordinated scheme to erode Virginia’s heavily regulated medical cannabis market” by selling intoxicating cannabinoid products that run afoul of state law.

“Disguised as lawful ‘hemp,’ these products are, in reality, potent and dangerous forms of marijuana, offered without the mandatory safeguards, testing, or oversight that the Commonwealth imposes on licensed cannabis operators such as Plaintiff,” the complaint says. “Through this deception, Defendants have flooded Virginia’s marketplace with unregulated and illegal cannabis products, exploiting consumer confusion and contravening Virginia’s state statutes to gain an unlawful competitive advantage.”

The filing walks through the history of cannabis laws that led to the proliferation of the consumable hemp market, including the federal legalization of hemp containing up to 0.3 percent delta-9 THC by dry weight under the 2018 Farm Bill. Then, in 2023, Virginia implemented its own law imposing additional restrictions on what can be legally sold, with a 2 milligram THC per package requirement.

“However, despite Virginia’s efforts to establish its Total THC standard available for purchase outside of authorized dispensaries, Defendants to this lawsuit engaged in a conspiracy to sell hemp products and industrial hemp extracts in Virginia that exceed the Commonwealth’s Total THC standard,” the lawsuit—which also lists Grayscale Brewing, Specialty Beverage and Coastalo as defendants—says.

“In Virginia, the influx of these illegal products into unregulated retail channels directly undermines the Commonwealth’s regulated medical marijuana program. Licensed dispensaries like Plaintiffs operate under stringent oversight, pay substantial licensing and operational fees, and comply with rigorous testing, packaging, and tracking requirements. Intoxicating hemp sellers, by contrast, bear none of these costs or obligations, yet compete for the same consumers by selling untested, unregulated, and unlawfully potent intoxicants in violation of Virginia law.”

Jushi is asking the court for a jury trial to settle the issue, and it’s seeking more than $80 million from defendants over the claimed economic injury from the alleged unfair competitive advantage.

Marijuana Moment reached out to each of the defendants, but representatives were not immediately available to comment on the lawsuit.

One of the most well-known defendants is the delivery service DoorDash, which announced in January that it was expanding its offerings in select states to include hemp-derived THC and CBD products, including gummies and beverages. The company said at the time that it was partnering with businesses such as Total Wine, another key defendant.

It remains to be seen how the lawsuit will be received by consumers and advocates, who may view the legal challenge as an attempt to stamp out competition by eliminating a source of cannabis products that some have come to rely on while Virginia continues to disallow sales of recreational marijuana, which is nonetheless legal to possess in the state.

From Jushi’s perspective, however, the lawsuit is necessary to level the playing field and address what is sees as unfair business practices the undermine its legal medical cannabis operations.

Trent Woloveck, chief strategy officer of Jushi, said the company’s “goal is not to remove products that are following the law and regulations set forth in Virginia.”

“We should ensure that businesses that want to continue to participate in cannabis do it under what is allowed so that we can get to our end goal of normalizing the plant. However, if businesses want to continue to short cut the process, then we are going to shine a light on them,” he told Marijuana Moment. “These sellers are selling intoxicating THC products without nearly the oversight, licensing, or tax burdens borne by licensed cannabis companies, so they ought to be extremely careful about following the law.”

“As for patient and consumers, we’ve received extremely positive support and feedback in our fight for public health and safety,” Woloveck said. “Unregulated and lawful marijuana products guised as hemp have created a significant problem for those pushing for real, permanent reform of cannabis industry because hemp-derived products are rarely (if ever) tested with the vigor required of licensed cannabis companies.”

Use and possession of adult-use marijuana has been legal in Virginia since 2021, but retail sales remain forbidden—a situation that’s helped fuel a multibillion-dollar illicit market. Despite efforts by Democrats in past years to legalize and regulate the retail system, Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) has stood in the way of the reform, vetoing proposals passed by lawmakers during each of the last two sessions.

Lawmakers on a legislative commission have been laying the groundwork to push for legalization of recreational cannabis sales in the 2026 session, but the success of that effort will likely depend on the results of next month’s gubernatorial election. Democrat Abigail Spanberger backs the reform but Republican Winsom Earle-Sears opposes it, and the two clashed on the issue at a recent debate.

Hemp businesses tried to block Virginia from enforcing the intoxicating hemp cannabinoid law in 2023, but a federal judge rejected the legal challenge.

All of this comes as Congress and state legislatures across the country grapple with their own hemp laws, with a growing number making moves to either ban or strictly regulate the sale of intoxicating cannabinoid products.

On Friday, a bipartisan coalition of 39 state and territory attorneys general called on Congress to clarify the federal definition of hemp and impose regulations preventing the sale of such products.

A GOP senator is hoping to replace a proposed ban on hemp THC products with alternate appropriations language mandating a study into state regulatory models for consumable cannabinoids. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) is circulating legislative language that he’s asking to be adopted as part of the final package.

The agriculture appropriations measure the Senate passed as part of a package over the summer initially contained provisions hemp industry stakeholders said would effectively eradicate the market by banning consumable hemp products with any “quantifiable” amount of THC. But after the measure came out of committee, Paul threatened to hold up its passage over the issue, and the language was removed.

Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), who ushered in the federal legalization of hemp under the 2018 Farm Bill, championed the THC criminalization language and took to the floor to criticize those who opposed the ban, including Paul.

Meanwhile, Paul recently filed a standalone bill that would go in the opposite direction of the hemp ban, proposing to triple the concentration of THC that the crop could legally contain, while addressing multiple other concerns the industry has expressed about federal regulations.

The senator introduced the legislation, titled the Hemp Economic Mobilization Plan (HEMP) Act, in June. It mirrors versions he’s sponsored over the last several sessions.

Separately, the retail giant Target has also started to soft launch sales of THC-infused beverages at select stores in Minnesota.

Read the Virginia lawsuit over alleged unlawful cannabis sales below: 

Photo courtesy of Philip Steffan.

Whiskey Company Scales Back Operations, Citing ‘Consumer Shifts’ Toward Marijuana As Alcohol Alternative

A popular independent craft spirits distillery says it’s scaling back its operations—due in part to the fact that more adults are choosing marijuana over alcohol.

Heritage Distilling Company, Inc.–which has distillery locations for its whiskey and other spirits in Oregon and Washington State where cannabis is legal—said on Thursday that a confluence of factors informed its decision to close tasting rooms, shift to contract production partnerships and focus on direct-to-consumer sales.

The company listed four specific considerations that led to the consolidation of its operations. That includes “consumer shifts toward reduced alcohol consumption and alternative products, including marijuana.”

That shift is being closely monitored across the alcohol industry. Earlier this year, the CEO of Brown-Forman Corporation, which produces brands such as Jack Daniel’s and Woodford Reserve, said that the growing use of marijuana as an alternative to alcohol is putting “pressure” on the spirits industry.

This week, new congressional lobbying reports shows that many major companies such as Anheuser-Busch, Bacardi North America and Moet Hennessy USA are engaged in federal lobbying to influence cannabis policy amid the surge in interest into THC beverages.

“For more than a decade, Heritage Distilling tasting rooms were places for friends and family to gather to enjoy each other’s company and great spirits,” Jennifer Stiefel, president of Heritage Distilling, said in a press release on Thursday. “As we head into the final stretch of the year, we wanted to give our customers and club members two months of lead time to plan their final visits to our tasting rooms, to share in great memories and to thank the staff who helped them along their customer journey.”

The company also listed tax and regulatory challenges in Oregon and Washington State as additional reasons for the business model change.

The fact that evolving consumer preferences for cannabis factored into the decision isn’t entirely surprising, as there have been many recent market analyses and surveys indicating that marijuana legalization has proved to be a disruptive force for the alcohol industry.

A poll released earlier this month found that a majority of Americans believe marijuana represents a “healthier option” than alcohol—and most also expect cannabis to be legal in all 50 states within the next five years.

Another recent survey showed that four in five adults who drink cannabis-infused beverages say they’ve reduced their alcohol intake—and more than a fifth have quit drinking alcohol altogether.

That survey was released shortly after a leading alcohol industry group added a company that makes THC-infused drinks to its membership roster for the first time, furthering signaling the cultural shift.

This also comes at a time when younger Americans are increasingly using cannabis-infused beverages as a substitute for alcohol—with one in three millennials and Gen Z workers choosing THC drinks over booze for after-work activities like happy hours, according to a new poll of 1,000 young professionals.

This month it was revealed that the retail giant Target is soft launching sales of THC-infused beverages at select stores in Minnesota.

Meanwhile, Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) of the United States recently entered a first-of-its-kind partnership with a hemp THC beverage company, with a licensing branding deal that will support a variety of veterans services and promote cannabis drinks as a potential alcohol alternative with the drinks being available at VFW posts across the country.

Separately, while Target is apparently moving into the THC drink space, the airline Virgin Atlantic denied satirical and false claims earlier this year from a cannabis beverage company about a deal to sell its THC-infused beverages on flights.

Target Begins Selling THC-Infused Cannabis Drinks As Congress Debates Possible Hemp Law Reversal

The retail giant Target is soft launching sales of THC-infused beverages at select stores in Minnesota, an executive of one cannabis drink company participating in the rollout and other industry leaders told Marijuana Moment.

In one of the latest examples of the normalization of cannabis in mainstream commercial marketing, Target’s move in Minnesota—where the company is headquartered—reportedly involves putting a dozen THC drink brands on shelves in 10 select stores in the state.

The move comes as Congress is debating legislation to recriminalize hemp-derived products with a quantifiable amount of THC, and as states across the country continue to evaluate their own laws.

“Given everything that’s going on around hemp and the conversations about regulation versus prohibition, Target getting into it now is monumental,” Jason Dayton, co-founder of Trail Magic, told Marijuana Moment. “And this is a moment that shows that regulation work.”

“I think all of us, collectively, would say we want more regulation—not less,” he said. “We want age-gating, we want testing, we want all of the rules of the road that have allowed the alcohol industry to become a $250 billion a year category, with everything included: Countless jobs and tax revenue associated with that.”

The THC drink brands that are being sold at Target of Friday include Birdie, Cann, Find Wunder, Gigli, Hi Seltzer, Indeed, Señorita, Stigma, Surly, Trail Magic, Wyld and Wynk, according to Dayton.

Photo via Jason Dayton, Trail Magic.

Adam Terry, CEO of Cantrip, said that while he’s “bummed” his company is not part of the launch, the development is “still HUGE for the category and big props to those in the set.”

Marijuana Moment reached out to Target and to some of the other drinks brands for comment, but representatives were not immediately available.

“I’ve long wondered when the heavyweights of retail, distribution, and alcohol would decide to wade into hemp beverages,” Aaron Edelheit, CEO of Mindset Capital, said in a blog post on Friday. “While we’ve seen major state-level distributors and large alcohol retailers like Total Wine enter the space, we haven’t yet seen a true retail behemoth take the plunge. That changed today.”

Target has started selling hemp beverages in a 10 store pilot in Minnesota today. This is monumental news for the hemp beverage space & I'm super excited as one of my portfolio brands & personal favorites, Trail Magic, is part of the launch. What a great day for hemp beverages!

— Aaron Edelheit (@aaronvalue) October 10, 2025

Whether the test pilot leads to a more national expansion of hemp beverages at Target locations beyond Minnesota is yet to be seen.

But the move also comes at a precipitous time in the state and federal hemp policy debate, with some lawmakers angling for a ban of cannabis products containing any amount of THC—despite the federal legalization of the crop and its derivatives under the 2018 Farm Bill, which was signed into law by President Donald Trump during his first term.

In Minnesota in particular, hemp beverages have been a mainstay even before the state moved to legalize marijuana for adult use.

Gov. Tim Walz (D) signed legislation in 2022 making it so all hemp-derived cannabinoids including CBD could be legally sold in food items, beverages, topicals and more—as long as the products contain less than the federal limit of 0.3 percent THC. Edible and beverage products are limited to a total of 5 mg THC per serving and 50 mg per package.

About a year later, former Minnesota House Majority Leader Ryan Winkler (DFL), who championed the state’s legalization law over multiple sessions, announced plans to launch his own hemp beverage company.

The mainstreaming of cannabis beverages comes as a new polls shows that a majority of Americans believe marijuana represents a “healthier option” than alcohol—and that most also expect cannabis to be legal in all 50 states within the next five years.

Another survey found that four in five adults who drink cannabis-infused beverages say they’ve reduced their alcohol intake—and more than a fifth have quit drinking alcohol altogether.

Target isn’t alone in joining the cannabis train as state laws continue to evolve.

Home Depot, one of the largest employers in the United States, last year shifted its employee drug testing policies to remove cannabis from screening panels entirely and stop pre-employment drug testing of most of its workers, according to a document obtained by Marijuana Moment.

In 2022, Amazon, the second largest private employer in the U.S., also backed a Republican-led bill to federally legalize, tax and regulate marijuana. It previously expressed support for a separate, Democratic-led legalization bill. Amazon has also worked to adapt to changing marijuana policies internally as it’s backed congressional reform, enacting an employment policy change in 2021 to end drug testing for cannabis for most workers, for example.

Meanwhile, Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) of the United States recently entered a first-of-its-kind partnership with a hemp THC beverage company, with a licensing branding deal that will support a variety of veterans services and promote cannabis drinks as a potential alcohol alternative with the drinks being available at VFW posts across the country.

Separately, while Target is apparently moving into the THC drink space, the airline Virgin Atlantic denied satirical and false claims earlier this year from a cannabis beverage company about a deal to sell its THC-infused beverages on flights.