Cannibis
KANSAS CITY — A federal judge has ordered a proposed class-action lawsuit involving Missouri marijuana dispensaries and allegedly unconstitutional local sales taxes to be returned to state court, ruling that recent changes to the plaintiffs’ complaint require the case to be remanded from federal court.
In an order issued June 3, U.S. District Judge Greg Kays granted a renewed motion to remand the case of Christopher Vick and other plaintiffs against several Missouri marijuana dispensaries, directing the case back to Jackson.
The lawsuit challenges the collection of a 3% county sales tax on recreational marijuana purchases that plaintiffs contend was unlawfully imposed in certain locations.
The dispute centers on Missouri’s recreational marijuana tax structure established after voters approved a constitutional amendment legalizing adult-use marijuana in 2022.
The amendment permits local governments to impose a tax of up to 3% on recreational marijuana sales within their jurisdictions. Plaintiffs allege they paid county sales taxes that were later determined to be unconstitutional under a Missouri Supreme Court ruling.
The plaintiffs originally filed the lawsuit in Jackson Circuit Court in June 2025. They sought to represent a class of individuals who purchased marijuana products from Missouri dispensaries and paid a 3% county sales tax that was later declared unconstitutional.
The lawsuit also seeks certification of a defendant class consisting of Missouri marijuana dispensaries that collected the tax.
The defendants removed the case to federal court in September 2025 under the Class Action Fairness Act (CAFA).
The plaintiffs subsequently sought remand, and while the federal court initially found removal proper, the case remained the subject of jurisdictional disputes.
The key development came after plaintiffs amended their complaint to narrow the proposed class.
The revised class definition limits membership to people who were citizens of Missouri as of June 13, 2025, and who purchased adult-use marijuana from defendant dispensaries in Missouri during the relevant period while paying the disputed 3% county sales tax.
The plaintiffs argued that the amendment eliminated the basis for federal jurisdiction.
Kays agreed that the amended complaint controlled the jurisdictional analysis. In his order, he relied heavily on the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2025 decision in Royal Canin U.S.A. vs. Wullschleger, which held that federal jurisdiction depends on the operative complaint, including complaints amended after removal to federal court.
According to the order, federal courts must look to the currently operative pleading when determining whether jurisdiction exists.
The court rejected the defendants’ argument that jurisdiction should be determined using the complaint that existed at the time of removal.
The defendants had contended that citizenship issues under CAFA were effectively fixed once federal jurisdiction attached.
Kays concluded that neither CAFA nor the relevant statutory provisions prevented plaintiffs from amending their complaint in a way that removed the basis for federal jurisdiction.
The order noted that the amended complaint now limits the plaintiff class exclusively to Missouri citizens.
Because the court had previously found that other requirements for CAFA’s “local controversy” and “home-state” exceptions were satisfied, the new class definition meant that more than two-thirds of the proposed class, and in fact all class members, were citizens of Missouri.
As a result, the court determined that statutory exceptions to CAFA jurisdiction applied and that the federal court was required to decline jurisdiction.
The lawsuit alleges claims for unjust enrichment, money had and received, and violations of the Missouri Merchandising Practices Act.
The plaintiffs seek class certification, declaratory and injunctive relief, restitution of the disputed tax payments, damages, interest, attorneys’ fees and other relief.
Concluding that the case no longer belonged in federal court, Kays granted the motion to remand and ordered the clerk to return the matter to Jackson Circuit Court for further proceedings.
U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missorui, Western Division case number: 4:25-cv-00739
