‘legalization’
Comments on the Proposed Cannabis Administration & Opportunity Act (“CAOA”)
Aug. 27, 2021—This summer, a working group of prominent United States Senators proposed a new bill to legalize marijuana at the federal level. Building on earlier iterations of the MORE Act, the draft Cannabis Administration & Opportunity Act (“CAOA”) constitutes the most comprehensive federal reform proposal to date. A detailed summary of the measure can be found...
New Article on the Hidden Problems Posed by Federal Legalization, and a New Way to Address Them
Aug. 23, 2021—Scott Bloomberg (Maine Law Professor) and I have just written a new article that comprehensively catalogues the problems that might arise if Congress were to suddenly legalize marijuana and thereby unleash the Dormant Commerce Clause (DCC) on the states. (As I’ve explained elsewhere, see here, I think the DCC may already be on the loose...
The Collision Between Federal Immigration Law and State Marijuana Reforms
Apr. 22, 2019—In mid-April, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued new guidance clarifying the immigration consequences of state marijuana reforms. The USCIS guidance can be found in Chapter 5 of the USCIS Policy Manual. The guidance was prompted by recent cases in which USCIS has denied the citizenship applications of immigrants, solely because those immigrants acknowledged...
UPDATE: Voters in 3 of 4 States Approve Marijuana Legalization Measures
Nov. 7, 2018—The poll results from the fall 2018 election are now in. Voters in 3 of 4 states approved marijuana legalization measures. Michigan voters approved Proposal 1 by 56% to 44%, making Michigan the 11th state (if we include D.C.) to legalize recreational marijuana. North Dakota voters rejected a recreational legalization measure (Measure 3) by 60%...
Four Marijuana Measures on the Ballot in November 2018
Oct. 29, 2018—Voters will decide the fate of marijuana legalization measures in four states next week. Michigan and North Dakota voters will decide whether to legalize recreational marijuana (both states already have medical marijuana laws), and Missouri and Utah voters will decide whether to legalize medical marijuana (both states already have CBD laws). The Washington Post has...
Only One State Has Not Yet Legalized Marijuana in Some Form . . .
Jul. 16, 2018—While updating some of the charts and figures in my book, I discovered that, since early May, 2018, only one state in the nation has not yet legalized marijuana in some form for at least medical purposes. I won’t keep you waiting: it’s Idaho. At the start of the year, Idaho had some company. Kansas...
New York State Department of Health Releases Report on Legalization
Jul. 13, 2018—The New York Department of Health just released its report on legalization of marijuana in the empire state. The report had been commissioned by Gov. Andrew Cuomo back in January, 2018. The full report can be found here. The news media has previously discussed some contents of the report, but this is the first time the...
Two New Articles on the International Law Ramifications of State Marijuana Reforms
Jun. 9, 2018—State marijuana reforms raise a host of nettlesome–and seldom discussed–questions about United States compliance with and the ultimate fate of international drug control treaties. Fortunately, two new articles focus on those questions and begin to fill the gap in the literature. The first is by Brian Blumenfed, an attorney and researcher: Pacta Sunt Servanda: State Legalization of Marijuana...
Analysis of the Warren-Gardner STATES Act
Jun. 7, 2018—[Update 6/8: I redrafted some of the language below for clarity and conciseness.] On June 7, Senators Elizabeth Warren (D MA) and Cory Gardner (R CO) formally introduced legislation to eliminate much of the conflict between state and federal marijuana laws. A full copy of the proposed legislation, called the “Strengthening the Tenth Amendment Through...
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...