Legal Issues

A Michigan Court of Appeals decision makes it impossible for medical cannabis cultivators to legally harvest their plants, according to MLive.com. A Michigan judge has ruled in People v. Vanessa Mansour that “wet marijuana,” the stage immediately following harvest but before the plant is fully cured and dried, is not covered by Michigan medical cannabis […]

The Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter has advised the state’s Board of Health that emergency rules passed last week regarding medical cannabis, including a complete ban on smokable products, is against the will of voters and outside the Board’s authority, according to KOCO 5 report. The Board’s decision was controversial and resulted in the immediate resignation […]

Massachusetts‘ top federal prosecutor, U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling, announced on Tuesday that he will focus his cannabis enforcement efforts on the overproduction and diversion of products into other markets, “targeted” distribution to minors, and organized crime, the Boston Globe reports. Notably, Lelling is not giving the industry a blanket exemption from federal laws but still plans […]

Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin (R) ratified strict emergency medical cannabis rules on Wednesday, flouting voters’ wishes on the issue, SF Gate reports. The rules were drafted by the governor’s appointees on the state Board of Health at an emergency meeting on Tuesday. The rules ban smokable cannabis and require pharmacists at all dispensaries. Medical cannabis advocates […]

Leon County Circuit Court Judge Karen Gievers on Tuesday upheld her May 25 ruling, lifting a stay on her decision that the Florida legislature’s statewide ban on smokeable medical cannabis products is unconstitutional, the Tampa Bay Times reports. Judge Gievers said that the state has until June 11 to enact a process to allow smokeable cannabis products […]

Doug Esposito is the Cannabis Practice Leader for Owen-Dunn Insurance Services, a Sacramento-based shared partners brokerage. In the following interview, Doug joins our podcast host TG Branfalt to talk about insurance options for the cannabis industry as it continues to take root and grow into the mainstream. We hear from Doug what typical cannabis industry […]

The Federal Court of Appeals in San Francisco ruled in an unpublished Memorandum of Disposition this week that the Drug Enforcement Administration’s December 2016 Marijuana Extract rule change stands. The rule change added a new code number to the DEA rules for “Marihuana Extracts” to make it easier for the DEA to track and trace […]

A Florida judge has ruled that strip club owner Joe Redner, a stage 4 lung cancer survivor, can legally grow his own cannabis “solely for the purpose of his emulsifying the biomass he needs for the juicing protocol recommended by his physician,” the Tampa Bay Times reports. The Florida Department of Health immediately filed an appeal. […]

Arkansas Judge Wendell Griffen has declared the state’s medical cannabis cultivation licenses “null and void” finding that the state Medical Marijuana Commission disregarded the licensing rules in the voter-approved amendment, according to a 40/29 report. In the ruling, the judge said that the commission failed to verify the sites’ distances from schools, churches, and daycares, […]

The first two applications for Michigan’s new medical cannabis business licenses – one dispensary and one transport service – were both rejected by the state cannabis licensing board, the Detroit Free Press reports. The vote was 2-2 and the fifth member of the board was absent and couldn’t break the tie. The applications were for […]

U.S. Southern District of New York Judge Alvin Hellerstein has dismissed the lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the Schedule I classification of cannabis on the grounds that the plaintiffs had not exhausted the administrative remedies – a petition process through the Drug Enforcement Agency – before filing their suit. Michael Hiller of Hiller, PC, the […]

Detroit, Michigan officials intend to file a lawsuit against the voter-approved medical cannabis dispensary rules that relaxed restrictions on businesses, such as reducing the buffer area from religious institutions and requiring public hearings and comments before obtaining approval to open a shop, the Detroit Free Press reports. The legal action comes less than a week […]

In case you missed it, there is a lawsuit against the Department of Justice, the Drug Enforcement Agency, and Attorney General Jeff Sessions – the text of which reveals the history of the 12,000-year relationship between humans and cannabis and how prohibition not only negatively affects the plaintiffs but potentially all humankind. The suit is […]

The California Growers Association is suing the state, contending that the Department of Food and Agriculture defied the will of the voters by permitting large-scale commercial cannabis farms, the Sacramento Bee reports. According to the report, the suit states that Prop. 64 was intended to “ensure the non-medical marijuana industry in California will be built […]

Massachusetts U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling, who was appointed by President Donald Trump and assumed office in December, told reporters yesterday that while opioid crimes are his top drug enforcement priority, he could not rule out bringing cases against canna-business operators and employees, the State House News Service reports. The comments come less than a month […]

The West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals is seeking public comment on a proposed amendment to the Rules of Professional Conduct which would explicitly allow attorneys to work with medical cannabis businesses in the state. The proposed new section to the rules reads: “A lawyer may counsel or assist a client regarding conduct expressly permitted under […]

In an op-ed in the Oregonian, U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon Billy J. Williams said that while “national policy has changed” – referring to the rescinding of the Cole Memo protections by Attorney General Jeff Sessions – federal attorneys’ “commitment to exercising good judgment in charging decisions has not.” “We will continue to […]

Federal U.S. District Court Judge John Blakely on Friday ruled that an 11-year-old medical cannabis patient in Illinois can be administered cannabis oil in school, according to an NPR report. The Illinois attorney general’s office told the court they would not challenge the ruling and would work with state officials to address the issue in […]

The parents of a Schaumburg, Illinois elementary school’s student are suing the district and the state after officials denied their 11-year-old daughter the right to use medical cannabis on school grounds, the Chicago Tribune reports. The plaintiffs argue that the denial is unconstitutional and violates due-process, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, and the Americans […]

Detroit, Michigan’s medical cannabis licensing process is on hold after a business group filed suit against the state claiming they were denied a business license under the new regime because they violated Detroit’s old ordinance, the Detroit Free Press reports. If the suit drags on until Feb. 15, all current operators licensed under the city’s […]

In a nascent industry like cannabis, becoming familiar to customers is essential to sales growth. Marketing experts will tell you that capturing market share begins with awareness. If customers don’t know who you are or what you make, if they don’t notice your products on the shelf or what shops you distribute to, then there […]

Jonathan Hunt, one of the cannabis consultants prosecuted in South Dakota for their role in the Flandreau Santee Sioux tribe’s cannabis resort plan, will have his drug cases dismissed, the Associated Press reports. Hunt, former vice-president and cultivation expert for Colorado-based Monarch America, was charged with conspiracy to possess between a half-pound and pound of […]

The Association of Indiana Prosecuting Attorneys sent a letter to the chairman of the state Commission to Combat Drug Abuse asking the body to “formally oppose the legalization of marijuana in any form, for any purpose” claiming cannabis is “not medicine,” that its use increases opioid abuse risk, and legalization has had “devastating effects in […]

Hoban Law Group, a full-time, full-service cannabis industry law firm based in Colorado, is planning to expand internationally with multiple offices in the European Union and two offices in Latin America. The European offices are expected by late fall while the Latin America offices are expected by spring 2018. The firm has already been working […]