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

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…

Posted by mikosra on October 7, 2020 in News, Updates, adult use, cannabis, discriminate, discrimination, dormant commerce clause, license, Maine, marihuana, marijuana, portland, preference, requirement, residency, resident

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Why the President Cannot Legalize Marijuana via Executive Action

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?…

Posted by mikosra on September 30, 2020 in News, Updates, azar, cannabis, controlled substances act, de-schedule, declassify, delist, election, enforce, executive action, executive order, imperial, marihuana, marijuana, president, reschedule, sanders, schedule, Trump, warren

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

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…

Posted by mikosra on September 22, 2020 in News, Updates, cannabis, convention, international, marihuana, marijuana, research, science, study, treaty, Trump

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

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…

Posted by mikosra on August 8, 2020 in News, Updates, bcc, bureau of cannabis control, California, cannabis, commandeer, commandeering, constitutional, DEA, drug enforcement administration, marihuana, marijuana, records, subpoena

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DEA subpoena of California BCC licensing records is probably unconstitutional

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…

Posted by mikosra on July 26, 2020 in News, Updates, bcc, bureau of cannabis control, California, cannabis, command, commandeer, commandeering, confidential, DEA, drug enforcement administration, federal court, license, marihuana, marijuana, privilege, subpoena, tenth Amendment

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Locals Sue, Seeking to Force Maine to Re-instate Residency Requirement for Marijuana Licenses

As I blogged about earlier, the state of Maine recently abandoned a residency requirement for obtaining commercial adult use marijuana licenses. See Company Sues Maine for Discriminating Against Non-residents When Licensing Marijuana Businesses and UPDATE: Maine Drops Residency Requirement for Adult-Use Commercial Licenses, Moots Legal Challenge. Residency had been expressly required by the state’s adult use marijuana law (the 2018 Marijuana Legalization Act),…

Posted by mikosra on June 27, 2020 in News, Updates, cannabis, dormant commerce clause, figueroa, lawsuit, license, licensing, Maine, maine department of administrative and financial services, marihuana, marijuana, residency requirement, resident, united cannabis patients and caregivers of maine, wellness connection

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New Paper on Murphy v. NCAA, Commandeering, and State Marijuana Reforms

I’ve just posted a new paper analyzing Murphy v. NCAA, the Supreme Court’s 2018 decision invalidating a federal statute that barred the states from legalizing sports gambling: Murphy’s Mistake, and How to Fix it (SSRN). I previously blogged about the case here. The new paper discusses the case and its implications for state marijuana reforms in much greater depth. The paper has also been…

Posted by mikosra on June 15, 2020 in News, Updates, bet, betting, cannabis, commandeer, commandeering, federalism, gamble, marihuana, marijuana, Murphy, NCAA, printz, professional and amateur sports protection action, sports gambling, wager, wagering

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New Study of Diversity and Opportunity in Denver’s Marijuana Industry

In June 2020, the Denver Department of Excise and Licenses released a new report on opportunity in the Denver area marijuana industry. The full Cannabis Business and Employment Opportunity Study is available here. Using a survey of participants in the local marijuana industry, the report seeks to identify the extent to which different factors –…

Posted by mikosra on June 9, 2020 in News, Updates, cannabis, Colorado, denver, diversity, employment, industry, marihuana, marijuana, opportunity, ownership, race, racial, social equity

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UPDATE: Maine Drops Residency Requirement for Adult-Use Commercial Licenses, Moots Legal Challenge

A few weeks ago I blogged about an interesting lawsuit challenging Maine’s residency requirement for commercial recreational marijuana licenses. See Company Sues Maine for Discriminating Against Non-residents When Licensing Marijuana Businesses. Brought by a Delaware corporation, the suit claimed that the residency requirement violated the Dormant Commerce Clause doctrine. Although I suggested two reasons why Maine…

Posted by mikosra on May 13, 2020 in News, Updates, cannabis, discriminate, discrimination, dormant commerce clause, license, licensing, Maine, marihuana, marijuana, residency, resident, state

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Could “No Action” Letters from the DOJ (and other Federal Agencies) Help State-Licensed Marijuana Suppliers Overcome Some Obstacles They Now Face?

Tom Firestone (Baker McKenzie) has an intriguing post over at the firm’s Global Cannabis Compliance Blog: DOJ No-Action Letters for the Marijuana Industry?  In it, he suggests that the DOJ and other key federal agencies (such as the SEC and FinCen) could issue “No Action” letters to state licensed marijuana suppliers and the third parties…

Posted by mikosra on April 30, 2020 in News, Updates, cannabis, Cole, Department of Justice, DOJ, enforcement, enforcement memorandum, marihuana, marijuana, No Action Letter, ogden

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