News Category
California Takes on Weedmaps Over Unlicensed Marijuana Shops
Mar. 15, 2018—In February 2018, California regulators demanded that Weedmaps stop advertising marijuana shops that aren’t licensed by the state. The confrontation has raised some interesting legal issues concerning the liability of third parties (the subject of Chapters 11-14 of my book) which I discuss below. But first, let me provide some necessary background on Weedmaps and...
DOJ Suit Challenging California Sanctuary Laws Could Have Ramifications for State Marijuana Reforms as Well
Mar. 8, 2018—On March 6 the Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a lawsuit challenging California’s sanctuary state policies as preempted. Those sanctuary policies are designed to mitigate state concerns over the enforcement of federal immigration laws. The DOJ’s Brief in Support of its Motion for a Preliminary Injunction provides a useful summary of the challenged state laws...
Suit Challenging Maryland’s Refusal to Use Racial Preferences in Licensing Has Been Settled
Feb. 28, 2018—When Maryland’s legislature passed a medical marijuana law in spring 2013, it instructed state regulators to consider race in awarding a limited number of licenses to cultivate and distribute marijuana (see page 454 n.1 of the book). In 2015, however, the state’s licensing commission abandoned those preferences, apparently due to concerns that racial preferences might...
The Corporate Tax Cut Might Have Done More for Marijuana Suppliers than Repealing Section 280E Would Have
Feb. 16, 2018—As most readers will know, state licensed marijuana businesses pay a comparatively high effective federal tax rate, because a special provision of the federal tax code (section 280E) bars them from deducting all but their cost of goods sold (COGS) when calculating their federal tax liability. In other words, these businesses may not deduct their...
Cases to Watch: Minnesota Prosecuting Two Employees of State-Licensed Medical Marijuana Supplier
Feb. 15, 2018—Since it legalized medical marijuana back in 2014, Minnesota has licensed two firms to supply the drug to qualifying patients: Leafline and Minnesota Medical Solutions (MMS). MMS is owned by Vireo Health, which also owns a firm licensed by the state of New York to supply medical marijuana to that state’s qualifying patients: Vireo Health...
Marijuana and the Opioid Crisis
Feb. 8, 2018—[Updated 2/19 to add further discussion of Powell et al. study.] The nation’s opioid crisis has sparked a lively debate about the relationship between marijuana and the use of harder drugs like opioid painkillers. Richard Friedman is the latest to weigh in on this debate. In a New York Times op-ed posted February 8, Marijuana...
Cases to Watch: California Growers Association vs. California Department of Food and Agriculture
Feb. 3, 2018—UPDATE (2/20/20): The California Grower’s Association voluntarily dropped its lawsuit back in January of 2019. See Scott Rodd, Growers association drops lawsuit against state over permitting large-scale cannabis cultivators, Sacramento Business Journal. However, the issues discussed below remain relevant as states ponder whether / how to regulate the structure of the licensed marijuana industry. An association of...
Panel Discussion of The Promise and Pitfalls of the Marijuana Justice Act
Jan. 31, 2018—On January 3, 2018, I had the pleasure of moderating a vibrant panel discussion on race and marijuana law at the American Association of Law Schools (AALS) annual conference in San Diego. I thoroughly enjoyed the panel, which discussed a broad range of topics, including the Marijuana Justice Act proposed by Senator Cory Booker (discussed...
Some Observations About How Vermont Just Legalized Recreational Marijuana
Jan. 24, 2018—On January 22, 2018, Vermont became the ninth state (and the tenth comparable jurisdiction, if we include D.C.) to legalize recreational marijuana. Vermont’s new law can be found here. Vermont’s law is similar in many respects to other recreational marijuana measures. Most importantly, it declares that: [A] person 21 years of age or older who...
New Study Defends Constitutionality of Racial / Gender Preferences in the Award of State Marijuana Licenses
Jan. 18, 2018—At least two states (Maryland and Ohio) have attempted to use racial preferences in the award of their commercial marijuana licenses. However, as discussed in the book, Maryland’s licensing board abandoned that state’s preferences in 2015 after a Deputy State Attorney General wrote a brief letter suggesting the preferences would likely violate the Equal Protection...