A Victoria man has filed a lawsuit against his wife after she admitted to spiking his breakfast cereal and other food with THC oil, a cannabis byproduct, in what she said was an attempt to treat his pain and anxiety.
The drug had made Darren Leith, an investor/realtor, unable to do his job properly and he lost income and opportunities to earn income, according to a lawsuit he has filed in B.C. Supreme Court against Mollie Leith.
He also suffered “intangible loss, including anger, distress, humiliation, wounded pride, damaged self-confidence, trauma and the loss of faith in others,” it said.
None of the allegations has been proven in court.
Darren Leith said he asked his wife if she had drugged his cereal after he noticed an oily substance in the bowl she had poured for him one morning almost two years ago, the lawsuit alleged. He didn’t have time to eat that day, so he had “put the cereal back in the cereal box as he was rushing to leave the house” and he noticed the oil, it said.
Before that day, his wife, an addictions’ counsellor, had been suggesting he take tetrahydrocannabinol, the psychoactive ingredient commonly called THC, for his pain and she had bought the oil several times.
Darren Leith, who has more than 14 years of recovery from alcoholism, refused to take it, saying it caused him anxiety, restlessness and fatigue, and only when his pain from his hip, back and knees was debilitating would he use THC or CBD oil “very sparingly and for limited periods of time,” the lawsuit said.
When asked about the THC in the cereal, his wife denied drugging his food, the lawsuit alleged.
Darren Leith bought urine test strips and for five weeks the tests came back positive, it said.
When he confronted his wife in June 2022 with the positive tests, “the defendant admitted she had been lacing the plaintiff’s food with THC to help him with his anxiety,” it alleged.
Darren Leith said he suffered insomnia, fatigue, agitation, restlessness, anxiety, harm to his relationships, digestion problems and weight gain, and is claiming damages for those losses.
“As a result of being drugged by the defendant, the plaintiff suffered marked disability and loss of enjoyment of life, including a loss of genuine, mindful interactions with his children,” it said.
The claim adds he is also claiming punitive damages, which are rarely granted in Canada and are designed to serve as retribution, deterrence and denunciation.
“The actions of the defendant were malicious, high-handed and depart markedly from ordinary standards of decency so as to attract punitive damages,” the claim said.
Darren Leith had been taking pharmaceutical medications to treat his chronic fatigue and anxiety and, since he stopped ingesting THC, his fatigue and anxiety subsided, it said.
Calls left with Darren Leith and his lawyer weren’t returned, and Mollie Leith couldn’t be reached for comment.
