New Congressional Farm Bill Legalizes Some Marijuana

[Updated 12/21 10:45 am: As expected, President Trump signed the Farm Bill into law on Dec. 20. The Commissioner of the FDA also issued a notable statement on the Bill (h/t to Doug Berman). The Commissioner emphasizes the points I make below regarding the ongoing limitations imposed by the FDCA on the use of CBD…

Posted by mikosra on December 13, 2018 in News, Updates, agriculture improvement act, cannabis, CBD, controlled substances act, cooperative federalism, CSA, farm bill, FDA, FDCA, federalism, Food and Drug Administration, Food Drug and Cosmetic Act, hemp, industrial hemp, marihuana, marijuana, THC

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UPDATE: State Judge Holds Use of Race in Ohio Medical Marijuana Licensing Unconstitutional

A state trial judge has just held that Ohio’s use of racial preferences in the award of state medical marijuana cultivation licenses violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment (and the Ohio state constitution). The full decision in PharmaCann Ohio, LLC v. Ohio Department of Commerce can be found at Pharmacann Ohio v….

Posted by mikosra on November 20, 2018 in News, Updates, affirmative action, cannabis, department of commerce, economically disadvantaged groups, greenleaf, harvest grows, license, marihuana, marijuana, maryland, minorities, minority, Ohio, parma wellness, PharmaCann, race, racial preferences, racial quotas

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UPDATE: Voters in 3 of 4 States Approve Marijuana Legalization Measures

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%…

Posted by mikosra on November 7, 2018 in News, Updates, Amendment 2, ballot, cannabis, election, legalization, legalize, marihuana, marijuana, Measure 3, michigan, missouri, north dakota, proposal 1, proposition 2, utah, vote

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Podcast on Good Law, Bad Law

Readers might be interested in a recent podcast I did with Aaron Freiwald, a Philly area attorney who runs an excellent podcast series called Good Law, Bad Law. The series is conversational in style and covers a host of legal topics — my conversation with Aaron, for example, spanned a number of subjects relating to marijuana law….

Posted by mikosra on November 2, 2018 in News, cannabis, freiwald, good law bad law, marihuana, marijuana, podcast

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UPDATE: Plaintiff Loses Colorado RICO Lawsuit (Safe Streets)

As reported by various new outlets (see links below), the jury in the Safe Streets case (now known as Reilly v. 6480 Pickney, LLC) rejected the plaintiff-landowners’ civil RICO claims against a state-licensed marijuana supplier. I discuss the plaintiffs’ claims in an earlier post here and in the book (pages 403-406). Although the defendant (and…

Posted by mikosra on November 1, 2018 in News, Updates, cannabis, Colorado, jury, lawsuit, marihuana, marijuana, odor, Oregon, plaintiff, racketeer, racketeering, reilly, RICO, Safe Streets, skunk, smell, tenth circuit, veridict

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Four Marijuana Measures on the Ballot in November 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…

Posted by mikosra on October 29, 2018 in News, Updates, adult use, Amendment 2, amendment 3, ballot, cannabis, election, initiative, legalization, legalize, marihuana, marijuana, Measure 3, medical, michigan, missouri, north dakota, November, proposal 1, proposition C, recreational, referenda, utah

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The Foreignness of Canadian Marijuana Legalization

On October 17, Canada became the second country to legalize recreational marijuana (Uruguay did so in 2014). The Canadian Government has posted the full text of the nation’s recreational marijuana laws (including The Cannabis Act) here. It also has a useful summary of the laws here. In many respects, Canada’s new law resembles the laws…

Posted by mikosra on October 19, 2018 in News, Updates, adult, age limit, canada, canadian, cannabis, foreign, government distribution, government owned, government store, legalize, marihuana, marijuana, minimum age, parliament, preempt, province, recreational

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Observations On Utah’s Proposed State Distribution System

[Updated 10/15 to address the possibility of suits in state court.] Just as Utah residents are about to vote on a medical marijuana initiative (Proposition 2), proponents and opponents of the initiative (including Governor Herbert) have announced plans to adopt a compromise medical marijuana law in the state legislature. See the full text of the Utah…

Posted by mikosra on October 12, 2018 in News, Updates, cannabis, central fill, compromise, government distribution, herbert, local health department, marihuana, marijuana, medical cannabis, medical marijuana, pharmacy, proposition 2, state distribution, state operated, state owned, utah

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How to Lure Consumers Away from the Marijuana Black Market

[Updated 10/8 8:44 am to add more information.] Even in states that have legalized the commercial supply of marijuana, some lawful consumers continue to purchase marijuana from the black market. Those black market sales pose several problems for state regulators; among other things, for example, they (likely) don’t generate any marijuana tax revenues for the…

Posted by mikosra on October 5, 2018 in News, Updates, black market, cannabis, delivery, Eaze, marihuana, marijuana, tax

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Is CBD Legal Under Federal Law?

[Update 12/21 10:45 am: Readers should note that the 2018 Farm Bill has important ramifications of the legality of CBD under federal law. I discuss the Farm Bill and its implications for CBD in this post here.  In a nutshell, the Farm Bill makes it legal to possess, manufacture, and distribute CBD extracted from all cannabis plants…

Posted by mikosra on September 28, 2018 in News, Updates, cannabidiol, cannabis, CBD, epidiolex, epilepsy, extract, farm bill, gw pharmaceuticals, hemp, hemp industries association, industrial hemp, legal, marihuana, marijuana, schedule, scheduling

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