‘residency’
Are State Bans on the Importation of Marijuana Next to Fall Under the DCC?
Aug. 22, 2022—In the last two years, plaintiffs have successfully challenged state residency requirements for marijuana licenses by invoking the Dormant Commerce Clause (DCC), an implied doctrine of federal constitutional law that bars states from discriminating against or imposing undue burdens on interstate commerce. See this post for recent developments in those cases. I provide an in-depth...
Federal Appeals Court Agrees: Using residency to award commercial marijuana licenses violates the Dormant Commerce Clause
Aug. 19, 2022—On August 17, 2022, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit issued a decision in NPG v. Maine Department of Administrative and Financial Services. The decision stems from Maine’s appeal of an earlier District Court judgment finding that a provision of the state’s Medical Marijuana Act violated the Dormant Commerce Clause (DCC) because...
Maine District Court Issues (Another) Decision Invalidating State Residency Requirement on DCC Grounds
Aug. 20, 2021—The federal district court in Maine just issued another decision in the NPG (aka Wellness Connection) v. Maine litigation challenging the state’s residency requirement for medical marijuana licenses. Last August, the same court issued a preliminary injunction barring the state from enforcing the requirement. My analysis of that decision can be found in UPDATE: Federal Judge...
Three Federal Courts (So Far) Have Held That State Residency Requirements for Cannabis Licenses (Probably) Violate the Dormant Commerce Clause
Jun. 22, 2021—Federal courts in Michigan and Missouri have just issued rulings in lawsuits challenging those states’ residency requirements for cannabis licenses. Both courts found that the plaintiffs were likely to prevail on the merits of their challenges. In particular, both courts held that using residency to award cannabis licenses probably violated the Dormant Commerce Clause (DCC). The...
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...
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...
UPDATE: Maine Drops Residency Requirement for Adult-Use Commercial Licenses, Moots Legal Challenge
May. 13, 2020—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...
Company Sues Maine for Discriminating Against Non-residents When Licensing Marijuana Businesses
Apr. 2, 2020—A Delaware corporation (Wellness Connection) has sued Maine, challenging a provision of that state’s recreational marijuana law that bars out-of-state companies and non-resident investors from obtaining commercial marijuana licenses. The suit was filed on March 20, 2020, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maine. The story has been reported in local papers...