March 9, 2022 – Earlier this year we wrote about trends to watch in the U.S. cannabis industry, which continues to grow rapidly. Those trends include the headwinds the industry faces as a result of cannabis’ continued federal prohibition. Unsurprisingly, industry players continue to push the envelope, with the hope that courts will begin recognizing the “realities on the ground,” notwithstanding congressional inaction. Here are five cases we are keeping an eye on, which might have a significant impact on the U.S. cannabis industry in 2022.
Northeast Patients Group et al. v. Figueroa
As a result of federal prohibition — tempered by an annual congressional budget rider commonly known as the “Rohrabacher Amendment” which prohibits the Department of Justice (DOJ) from using appropriated funds to interfere with medical marijuana industries that operate in accordance with state law — the cannabis industry in the United States is a patchwork of state laws. Many of those laws contain in-state residency requirements for license applicants and operators. This has inevitably led to challenges by out-of-state operators on the grounds that such requirements are discriminatory.
The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is poised to issue the first precedential opinion addressing the constitutionality of state laws that bar or restrict nonresidents from holding cannabis licenses or, in some cases, from even investing in local cannabis businesses. The case, Northeast Patients Group et al. v. Figueroa, involves a challenge to a Maine rule requiring medical cannabis businesses to be owned by state residents. [Read More @ Reuters]
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