Legal Issues

The head of a Washington, D.C. cannabis delivery company pleaded guilty this week to federal money laundering charges related to about $3.5 million worth of unregulated cannabis sales.

The Arizona Court of Appeals has ruled that using medical cannabis under the care of a physician while pregnant is not considered child neglect.

Police in Hays, Kansas recently raided the hospital room of a terminally ill cancer patient, confiscating a THC-infused edible paste and vaping device said to contain cannabinoids. The patient was given a ticket and court summons but law enforcement later dropped the charges.

The Washington state Liquor and Cannabis Board announced it is suspending the license of Port Angeles-based Dank Inc., claiming to have discovered “untagged” plants, evidence of potential cannabis product diversion, and other violations of state law.

Canadian prosecutors have moved to withdraw all charges against three former executives for CannTrust, the beleaguered cannabis giant that was sunk by accusations of unlicensed cannabis cultivation.

The California cannabis brand Kushy Punch received a $128 million fine this week related to the alleged illegal production of millions of cannabis gummies. It is thought to be the state’s largest cannabis fine ever.

The Blacklist, a notoriously anonymous cannabis industry publication, has become embroiled in a series of lawsuits that is bringing its owner and longtime operators into the public spotlight, unraveling the brand’s anonymity.

Shane Pennington is the New York-based counsel for Vicente Sederberg LLP, a national cannabis law firm that represents cannabis industry clients and works on state and local cannabis policy reform.

Emily Gant is a cannabis and alcohol beverage attorney for Foster Garvey PC based in Washington state.

Dan Bilzerian’s Ignite International Brands is being investigated by the US Security and Exchange Commission and under regulatory investigation in Canada for alleged financial violations.

Two people were convicted in a cannabis-and-cattle Ponzi scheme last week on charges including conspiracy to commit money laundering, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and five counts of wire fraud; they are facing multiple decades in prison for the $650 million scam.

Two lawsuits challenging Detroit’s adult-use cannabis licensing ordinance were dismissed by a Michigan judge in Wayne County who said the city has provided a fair licensing process.

The Michigan State Police is ceasing blood tests for cannabis after discovering false positives for THC in testing procedures that have been used for more than 20 years.

Oklahoma’s adult-use cannabis legalization question may be blocked from November ballots due to a delay in signature counting by a new vendor contracted by the state.

In a recent ruling, Nevada’s Supreme Court clarified that adult cannabis use was not considered “lawful” behavior outside of work because it is not federally legal.

The Zide Chruch of Entheogenic Plants, a church in Oakland, California that uses cannabis and psychedelics as communion, has filed a lawsuit against the city and its police department over a 2020 raid of their site.

As part of an ongoing legal battle after Arkansas’ Board of Election Commissioners blocked a popular cannabis legalization initiative from November ballots, the state Supreme Court will conditionally allow the adult-use question to move forward.

Saint Peter’s University in New Jersey has filed a lawsuit to prohibit the opening of a dispensary and lounge near the college’s dormitories.

A federal court in California ruled that delta-8 THC is considered legal under the 2018 Farm Bill in a decision for the trademark case AK Futures LLC v. Boyd Street Distro LLC.

The New York Supreme Court determined that a $600 million lawsuit against Acreage Holdings and 30 other defendants can proceed.

A U.S. District Judge in Maryland granted a pretrial motion by federal prosecutors to exclude any mention of the fact that cannabis has been legalized in 18 states from Jonathan Wall’s upcoming drug trafficking case.

While a recent DEA letter appeared to suggest that cannabis material containing less than 0.3% THC is federally legal under the 2018 Farm Bill, legal experts still caution against sending seeds, clones, and other byproducts by mail.