Shooting victim Kristine Kirk's family, sister Tammy Heman, from right, parents Marti and Wayne Kohnke, and an unnamed family member, talk with members of the media a following the sentencing of Kirk's... (Associated Press) 
 
 Shooting victim Kristine Kirk's family, sister Tammy Heman, from right, parents Marti and Wayne Kohnke, and an unnamed family member, talk with members of the media a following the sentencing of Kirk's husband Richard Kirk in the 2014 fatal shooting of Kristine Kirk at their home, at court in Denver,... (Associated Press) 
 
 DENVER (AP) — A Denver man who claimed that eating marijuana-infused candy led him to kill his wife was sentenced Friday to 30 years in prison in a case that helped raise concerns about the potency of pot edibles. 
 
 Richard Kirk, 50, was charged in the April 2014 shooting of Kristine Kirk at the couple's home. Moments before he shot her in the head, Kristine Kirk told a 911 dispatcher her husband was hallucinating and was getting a gun after eating pot candy. 
 
 Kirk initially pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder but right before he was about to go on trial in 2015, he changed his plea to not guilty by reason of insanity, claiming that he was intoxicated with THC, marijuana's psychoactive ingredient. 
 
 In February, he agreed to plead guilty to second-degree murder in a deal with prosecutors, avoiding a potential life sentence that could have come with a conviction on the more serious charge. 
 
 Prosecutor Helen Morgan said after Friday's hearing that Kirk's use of marijuana played a role in deciding to broker a plea deal. 
 
 "There were a myriad of factors that went into it, but it was certainly one of them. One of many," she said. 
 
 Kirk's attorneys sought lenience on the grounds that he had consumed THC to relieve back pain and it had severely impaired his judgment. They also argued he suffered "involuntary intoxication" because he did not know he was at high risk for marijuana psychosis due to schizophrenia in his extended family. 
 
 Denver District Judge Martin Egelhoff did not address that argument Friday in sentencing Kirk to the high end of the 25- to 30-year range set out in the plea agreement. 
 
 Authorities have said low levels of THC were found in Kirk's blood, and a partially eaten piece of marijuana candy was found in the house. But they have not said what role, if any, they thought pot played in the shooting. 
 
 According to investigators, the couple had escalating marital and financial problems, and Kristine Kirk had told a friend she was afraid of her husband because they had been fighting so much — a conclusion disputed by defense attorneys. 
 
 Kristine Kirk told dispatchers that her husband was acting more drunk than violent, crawling through a bedroom window and cutting his legs on broken glass. But prosecutors said he had the wherewithal to remember the code to a locked gun safe and press the weapon to his wife's head. 
 
 District Attorney Beth McCann has said that plea deal was reached because the family wanted to avoid a trial given the emotional toll they have already suffered. Under the plea deal, Kirk also allowed his wife's parents, Marti and Wayne Kohnke, to adopt the couple's three children. 
 
 "On the evening she needed me most, I wasn't there," Marti Kohnke said of her daughter. "I couldn't save her, and I will live with that guilt for the rest of my life. ... My daughter's murder was the culmination of a lifetime of his bad choices." 
 
 Last year, the Kohnkes sued two marijuana businesses that sold candy to Richard Kirk, saying they failed to warn him about its potency and possible side effects. 
 
 In response to the Kirk case and the death of a Wyoming college student who jumped from a hotel balcony after eating a potent marijuana cookie, Colorado lawmakers tightened regulations on marijuana snacks that became popular after the state legalized recreational marijuana stores. The state also now has stricter limits on how much marijuana they can contain and tougher labeling requirements. 
 
 Kirk said in court Friday that if he had not eaten the marijuana candy, his wife would still be alive. 
 
 "I had no idea how it would affect me. ... I'm so sorry that I became the monster that I was supposed to protect them from," he said of his family. ||||| Lawsuit alleges marijuana businesses should have warned Richard Kirk that edibles could have severe side effects, including psychotic behavior 
 
 The three 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 edible 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 possible side effects — including hallucinations and other psychotic behaviors. 
 
 Hours after Kirk purchased the marijuana candy 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 filed 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." 
 
 A partially eaten "Karma Kandy Orange Ginger" candy was found at Kirk's Observatory Park home after the shooting. The candy — which was roughly the size of a Tootsie Roll — contained 10 servings of THC, with each serving containing about 10 milligrams. 
 
 THC is the major psychoactive ingredient in marijuana. 
 
 Gaia's Garden LLC, the company that manufactured the chew, and Nutritional Elements Inc., the store where Kirk bought the candy, are named as defendants in the complaint. According to the lawsuit, the companies failed to include warnings about "known side effects" on the candy's packages. 
 
 Those possible side effects include hallucinations, paranoia and psychosis. 
 
 The state has since changed the requirements for labels on edibles. 
 
 Marti and Wayne Kohnke talk about their daughter Kristine Kirk during an interview in Denver August 26, 2014. (Denver Post file) 
 
 The two companies "negligently, recklessly and purposefully concealed vital dosage and labeling information from their actual and prospective purchasers, including Kirk, in order to make a profit," the lawsuit says. 
 
 Sean McAllister, who represents Gaia's Garden, said the wholesale company has always been in compliance with state requirements for labeling and packaging its products. 
 
 "We will vigorously defend ourselves against this attempt to shift responsibility away from the murderer to a substance that is less harmful than alcohol and does not lead to violence," McAllister said. 
 
 Tiffany Goldman, chief operating officer for Nutritional Elements, declined to comment Tuesday. 
 
 Kristine Kirk (Provided by Kristine's family) 
 
 During the first year of legal recreational marijuana sales, marijuana-infused edibles accounted for roughly 45 percent of the legal pot marketplace. Edibles also were involved in some of the most high-profile marijuana incidents in 2014. 
 
 About three months after legal recreational sales began — on Jan. 1, 2014 — a Wyoming college student became agitated after eating a marijuana-infused cookie and leapt to his death from a Denver hotel balcony. 
 
 Kristine Kirk was killed about one month later. 
 
 Novice users were given a "false sense of security" when purchasing edibles without a warning about overdosing, according to the lawsuit. The businesses failed to inform Kirk and other customers that, compared with smoking pot, the effects of edibles often take longer to take hold, according to the lawsuit. 
 
 Without that information, customers "can readily be misled into believing they need to eat more of the product to feel its effects without realizing the zone of danger they are entering that could result in catastrophic effects." 
 
 Failing to include dosage and consumption instructions was "dangerous, reckless and outrageous" and below the standards required for household products such as chewing gum, toothpaste and body lotion, the lawsuit claims. 
 
 "The manufacturers of dog treats have shown more concern for the health and well-being of dogs that consume their product than the Edible Producers have shown for the people in our community that consume theirs," the lawsuit said. 
 
 In January 2015, new regulations went into effect requiring edibles sold recreationally to be wrapped individually or demarked in increments of 10 or fewer milligrams of activated THC. 
 
 While the new regulations will have little to do with claims in the lawsuit, the likelihood of winning is still low, said Sam Kamin, Vicente Sederberg professor of marijuana law and policy at the University of Denver. 
 
 "We don't hold liquor stores responsible, and we don't hold vodka producers responsible for drunk drivers," Kamin said. 
 
 Still, the mere filing of such a lawsuit marks a shift within the marijuana industry itself and may open the door for future claims. 
 
 "Filing this lawsuit, to a certain extent, is a sign that marijuana is becoming a bigger business," Kamin said. "You can't file a lawsuit against a drug dealer. But what these suits are showing is that marijuana is becoming an industry that they want to hold accountable if they think it's caused a harm." 
 
 The lawsuit also names Kirk as a defendant. Attorneys allege he acted negligently when he voluntarily became intoxicated to a point where he could no longer control his actions. But Kirk had no intention of hurting his wife and no way of knowing that consuming the pot could cause the reaction it did, the lawsuit said. 
 
 The now 49-year-old changed his plea from not guilty to not guilty by reason of insanity in September. 
 
 He has since been ordered to have an evaluation at the Colorado Mental Health Institute at Pueblo. It is unclear if that evaluation has been completed. 
 
 The lawsuit's claims contradict Denver prosecutors, who have argued Kirk acted intentionally. They claim the financial and emotional strain of his marriage contributed to a conscious decision to kill his wife. 
 
 Blood tests taken after the shooting revealed Kirk had a low level of THC in his system. No alcohol or other drugs — illegal or prescription — were detected. 
 
 A toxicology report showed Kirk had 2.3 nanograms of THC per milliliter of blood the night of the shooting. The state's legal limit for stoned driving is 5 nanograms of THC per milliliter. 
 
 Reports from defense witnesses, including a psychiatrist, psychologist, toxicologist and an expert on the effects of marijuana show that defense attorneys are poised to argue that Kirk did not have the mental capacity to plan or kill his wife. When considered together, the reports could suggest the THC in Kirk's system may have contributed to or triggered a psychotic break. 
 
 Even if Kirk consumed only part of the edible, "the adverse effects could have been severe. It was negligent and reckless not to warn our community of these dangers," according to the lawsuit. 
 
 As a result of their mother's death, Kristine Kirk's sons have suffered non-economic damages, such as emotional suffering. The lawsuit also claims they have suffered economic damages.
– Richard Kirk will not be going on trial for the murder of his wife—and neither will the "Karma Kandy Orange Ginger" marijuana edible he blames the killing on. The 50-year-old Denver man was sentenced to 30 years in prison Friday after he pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the April 2014 shooting death of his wife, Kristine, the AP reports. During a 13-minute call with a 911 dispatcher, Kristine Kirk said her husband was hallucinating and getting a gun after consuming marijuana-infused candy. Her family is suing the maker and seller of the pot edible. Kirk claimed the marijuana candy caused delirium and psychotic-like symptoms, though prosecutors noted that he was sober enough to remember the code to his gun safe. One of Kirk's public defenders told the judge Friday that they had been ready to prove that marijuana led to the shooting, but Kirk agreed to a plea deal to save his three sons from having to testify, the Denver Post. Kirk admitted it had been his choice to buy and consume the marijuana, but said he didn't know it would affect him the way it did. "I know with certainty if I did not ingest that marijuana edible, Kris would still be here today," he said. Kirk's sons, who are now 15, 14, and 10, were present during the shooting. As part of the plea deal, Kirk relinquished custody of the boys to his wife's parents. He is banned from contacting them until the end of a five-year probation period that will follow his sentence.