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Did Federal Judge Give Oklahoma a Free Pass to Violate the Constitution?

Jun. 10, 2021—On June 4, 2021, a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit challenging Oklahoma’s residency requirement for commercial cannabis licenses. The full decision in Original Investments v. Oklahoma is here: Original Investments v. Oklahoma (W.D. Okla. June 4, 2021) (it’s only about 5 pages long). The suit claimed that Oklahoma’s residency requirement violated the Dormant Commerce Clause (DCC). The...

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State Restrictions on Interstate Commerce in Cannabis are Unconstitutional

Mar. 3, 2021—The title of this post is the takeaway of a new law review article I have just posted on SSRN. The article challenges the widely held assumption that legalization states may ban imports of cannabis or otherwise prevent nonresidents from participating in their local cannabis markets. Here is the link to a nearly final draft...

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South Dakota Bar Warns Lawyers that Counseling Marijuana Clients Might be Ethics Violation – Not First State to Say So

Jan. 6, 2021—In fall 2020, South Dakota voters approved measures to legalize both medical and recreational marijuana. See Marijuana Reforms Win Big at the Polls. In January 2021, however, the South Dakota State Bar Association warned attorneys that providing legal services to marijuana businesses would violate the South Dakota Rules of Professional Conduct (i.e., the bar’s code of...

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What are the Possible Ramifications of the UN’s Vote to Reschedule Marijuana?

Dec. 3, 2020—On Wednesday, the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs narrowly voted to re-schedule cannabis under the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961. In particular, the Commission approved a recommendation from the World Health Organization (WHO) to remove cannabis from Schedule IV of the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961. (The recommendation in full stated:...

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Marijuana Reforms Win Big at the Polls

Nov. 4, 2020—On November 3, five states had measures on the ballot to legalize recreational and / or medical marijuana: Arizona, Mississippi, Montana, New Jersey, and South Dakota. Voters in Mississippi, Montana, and South Dakota actually had more than one measure to consider. Notably, all of proposed ballot measures passed, most by hefty margins. This is the...

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UPDATE: Federal Judge Finds that State Residency Requirements for Marijuana Licensing are Unconstitutional

Oct. 7, 2020—As I blogged in the summer, Maine has become a hotbed of litigation concerning residency requirements for marijuana licenses. Many states (including Maine, for a time) limit the ability of non-residents to own and operate marijuana businesses. The litigation began when a Delaware firm (Wellness Connection) challenged a provision of Maine’s new recreational marijuana law...

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Why the President Cannot Legalize Marijuana via Executive Action

Sep. 30, 2020—I have just posted a paper addressing the question posed by the title of this post. Here’s a link to the paper on SSRN: POTUS and Pot: Why the President May Not (and Should Not) Legalize Marijuana Through Executive Action And here’s the abstract: Could the President legalize marijuana, without waiting for Congress to act?...

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How the Trump Administration is Using International Law to Block Cannabis Research in the United States

Sep. 22, 2020—I’ve just posted a short paper that will soon appear in the American Journal of International Law Unbound (the journal’s online companion). The paper illuminates how the Trump Administration has used international law to block research on marijuana in the United States. The full paper, Using One Dying Regime to Save Another: The Influence of International Drug...

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UPDATE: DEA (sort of ) Explains Why It’s Demanding Confidential State Licensing Records

Aug. 8, 2020—As I blogged back in July 2020, the DEA has subpoenaed the California Bureau of Cannabis Control (BCC), demanding records the agency has gathered on a handful of state-licensed cannabis companies. See DEA Subpoena of California BCC Licensing Records is Probably Unconstitutional. The records include cannabis inventory reports submitted by the licensees. Not surprisingly, California considers...

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DEA subpoena of California BCC licensing records is probably unconstitutional

Jul. 26, 2020—Back in January, the federal Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) issued an administrative subpoena to the California Bureau of Cannabis Control (BCC), demanding the state agency turn over information regarding a handful of state-licensed cannabis companies. The information includes license applications and shipping manifests from the companies. At the time, the BCC refused to comply, claiming...

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