Cannabis

January 23, 2020

Last year brought significant changes to Washington cannabis via the legislative session. Today I’ll outline some of the ways the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board (“LCB”) plans to regulate marijuana in 2020. Before I get into the details let me please encourage you to check out Cannabis Observer, who goes to every LCB meeting and provides details free of charge each week online. This is part one in a two-part series. Today we’ll outline…

Cannabis Law Update

House Subcommittee Holds Hearing on Current Cannabis Policies

By Kristi Wolff & Lee Baumgardner

January 22, 2020

On January 15, the Subcommittee on Health of the Committee on Energy and Commerce held its first ever legislative hearing to address federal cannabis policies. The subcommittee invited witness from three different agencies to provide testimony: Matthew K. Strait, Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”); Douglas Throckmorton, Food and Drug Administration(“FDA”); and Nora D. Volkow, National Institutes on Drug Abuse (“NIDA”). The hearing lasted over three hours and included several areas of discussion. Here are some highlights:…

The Blunt Truth

Weed at Work: Should Employers Expand “Alcohol at Work” to Cover Recreational Cannabis?

By Jennifer Mora & Adam R. Young

January 22, 2020

Employers considering a tolerant attitude towards recreational cannabis in the workplace should consider safety hazards and legal liabilities. In the heyday of the two-martini lunch, employers regularly tolerated alcohol in the workplace or employees presumably impaired by alcohol returning to work. Over the succeeding decades, employers began to concentrate on the business and legal liabilities imposed by drug and alcohol use and impairment in the workplace — including increased absenteeism, mistakes, sexual harassment, workplace violence,…

Canna Law Blog™

This Psilocybin Patent Could Be a Really Big Deal

By Vince Sliwoski

January 22, 2020

Last week, COMPASS Pathways announced its acquisition of US Patent No 10,591,175. What does that patent cover? Psilocybin! More specifically, COMPASS has locked down “methods of treating drug-resistant depression with a psilocybin formulation.” The company is also running a phase IIb clinical trial of its patented formulation, COMP360, which we covered in a blog post back in 2018. In that post, I explained how the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval process works and why…

Cannabis Law Blog

New Jersey Court Commands Cannabis Reimbursement in Workers’ Compensation Dispute

By Lindsay Stone

January 21, 2020

In a case of first impression, the New Jersey Appellate Division determined that employers in the state must reimburse employees for medical cannabis following a workplace accident, despite federal prohibitions against cannabis distribution. The January 13, 2020 decision in Hager v. M&K Construction, Case No. A-0102-18T3, is the first time a court in the state has required reimbursement for a cannabis prescription in the workers’ compensation context, and may signal a fresh judicial focus…

Canna Law Blog™

Does Your Cannabis Business Qualify for Trademark Protection? The Answer is Most Certainly “Yes!”

By Alison Malsbury

January 21, 2020

We try to cover cannabis-related trademark issues thoroughly on this blog, because branding and trademark protection form the most basic foundation for most businesses. In our most recent posts, we’ve focused heavily on trademark disputes, because as the industry matures, litigation has become inevitable. For reference, you can check out some of the big trademark disputes from the last couple of years here: Cannabis Trademark Litigation: Web Platform Liability (Mr. T v. Leafly) Cannabis Trademark …

Marijuana Law, Policy & Reform

Highlighting another troublesome spot at the intersection of marijuana reform and criminal justice systems

By Douglas Berman

January 20, 2020

Regular readers know that, because of my work in the criminal justice arena, I often come to marijuana reform stories with an extra focus on how marijuana law and policy impact criminal justice system. Though I am particularly interested in topics covered in my Federal Sentencing Reporter article, "Leveraging Marijuana……

Marijuana Law, Policy & Reform

Taking stock of 2020 marijuana reform prospects in various states (and noting some significant omissions)

By Douglas Berman

January 20, 2020

Jeff Smith over at MJBizDaily has this helpful article (with a helpful graphic) under the headline "Several states could legalize cannabis sales in 2020 as marijuana industry eyes lucrative East Coast market." The article maps out the ten or so states that might move forward with adult-use legalization regimes in……

Canna Law Blog™

It’s MLK Day. Don’t Forget Cannabis is a Civil Rights Issue.

By Vince Sliwoski

January 20, 2020

Happy MLK Day! For our international readers, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is a federal U.S. holiday marking the birthday of its eponymous civil rights hero. Dr. King was the chief spokesperson for nonviolent activism in the Civil Rights Movement, which successfully protested racial discrimination in federal and state law. Dr. King was assassinated in 1968, four years after the passage of one of the great U.S. laws of the 20th century, the Civil Rights Act…

Cannabis Law Update

A Matter of First Impression: New Jersey Court Holds that Federal Law Does Not Bar Legal Reimbursement for Medical Marijuana

By Mindy Pava

January 19, 2020

An employer ordered to reimburse a worker for his purchase of medical marijuana – as part of a workers’ compensation claim – is not in danger of violating the federal Controlled Substances Act, according to an important decision rendered by the New Jersey Appellate Division this week. In Vincent Hager v. M&K Construction, Case No. A-0102-18T3 (N.J. App. Div.), the court grappled with a potential conflict between the Controlled Substances Act (“CSA”), 21 U.S.C. §…