RAW Rolling Paper Producer Ordered to Cease Marketing Claims
Image credit: iStock
The manufacturer of RAW Organic Hemp rolling papers – a popular brand among cannabis consumers – has been ordered by a US district court to immediately cease its production of the rolling papers.
The injunction order was made following a federal lawsuit from Republic Brands, a competitor distributor of rolling papers.
Republic Brands argued that HBI International, the maker of RAW rolling papers, effectively made two falsehoods in its marketing: that it directs some funding to the “RAW Foundation” charity and that its papers are made by artisanal craftsman in Alcoy, Spain.
In two separate rulings in December 2022 and January 2023, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois reportedly concluded that no RAW Foundation even existed and that HBI “makes no rolling paper in Alcoy, Spain whatsoever.”
The details of the case come from a press release from Republic Brands.
The court order permanently prohibits HBI from making any statement or engaging in any advertising activity that states or suggests that it contributes funds to a “RAW Foundation” or that its rolling paper cones are made in Alcoy, Spain. The company is also prohibited from stating, among other claims, that its rolling papers are “unrefined” and the “world’s only organic" rolling papers.
