First wrongful death lawsuit against the legal marijuana industry
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A new lawsuit claims that a marijuana edibles company recklessly failed to warn Richard Kirk, who shot and killed his wife, about the candy's potency and side effects.
The sons of a woman shot to death in 2014 have filed what appears to be the country’s first wrongful death lawsuit against the recreational marijuana industry.
The lawsuit claims that the company that made the marijuana edibles and the store that sold the candy to Richard Kirk recklessly and purposefully failed to warn him about the bite-sized candy’s potency and side effects — including hallucinations and other psychotic behaviors.
Hours after Kirk purchased the marijuana candy on April 14, 2014, Kristine Kirk, 44, called 911 terrified of her husband who was ranting about the end of the world and jumping in and out of windows. All three of the couple’s young sons heard the gunshot that killed their mother.
Their youngest son, who was 7 at the time, watched his mother die, according to an amended complaint that was filed on Monday night.
Kirk now faces one count of first-degree murder in his wife’s death.
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of the children — now ages 9, 13, and 15 — by Kristine’s parents, Wayne and Marti Kohnke, and her sister, Tamara Heman. The trio became the boys’ legal guardians after Kristine Kirk’s death.
“While nothing can bring their parents back, this lawsuit will seek justice and change in an edible industry that is growing so fast it failed these young kids,” the family’s attorneys, Greg Gold and David Olivas said in a statement. “Edibles themselves are not the evil, it is the failure to warn, the failure to properly dose, the failure to tell the consumer how to safely use edibles, that is the evil.”
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