Lawsuits

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton this week filed a lawsuit against the city of Dallas over the city’s new, voter-backed cannabis decriminalization policy.

Seven cannabis transportation companies in Illinois are suing the state Department of Agriculture claiming the agency’s licensing process favors larger, white- and male-owned companies.

An attorney for New Mexico cannabis company NNK Equity LLC says the company will sue the state after police seized and destroyed tens of thousands of pounds of cannabis. The authorities, however, say the seizure was lawfully executed against a noncompliant cannabis operator.

The owner of a Texas smoke shop was awarded a settlement of $80,000 from the Garza County Sheriff’s Office and the city of Post following an “illegal” raid in February that seized more than $20,000 worth of legal hemp products.

A lawsuit filed on behalf of eight licensed New Mexico cannabis operators alleges that federal agents with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Customs & Border Protection unlawfully seized state-legal cannabis products and cash, violating the companies’ Fifth Amendment right to due process.

A Montgomery Circuit judge in Alabama has appointed a mediator to help resolve the legal dispute over the state’s attempts to license integrated operators for its long-embattled medical cannabis program.

A California judge last week ruled that the state’s emergency regulations restricting the sale of intoxicating hemp products can continue, blocking a legal challenge brought by hemp companies.

A judge in Lancaster County, Nebraska is allowing parts of a lawsuit that challenges the state’s two petitions to legalize medical cannabis to move forward.

One of the companies suing the Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission asked a judge to toss all three of the agency’s attempts to award integrated cannabis licenses and to declare the regulators’ appeal process void.

A former Nebraska state senator has filed a lawsuit to invalidate two medical cannabis petitions — one to legalize medical cannabis and one to regulate the industry — that were approved for November ballots earlier this month.

Legal battles are delaying Alabama’s medical cannabis rollout, leaving thousands of patients in limbo as both regulators and licensees push for court approval to start operations.

A lawsuit filed this week in New York on behalf of three licensed hemp retailers is accusing the state’s cannabis officials of “trampling” on their constitutional rights by conducting “military-style raids” as part of their crackdown on the sale of illegal cannabis products.

A federal judge in Wyoming recently dismissed the lawsuit challenging a state-wide ban on intoxicating hemp products. The suit was dismissed with prejudice, meaning it cannot be brought back to the court.

Alabama regulators last week approved two new cannabis cultivation licenses as the Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission considers options for unblocking the lawsuit-laden industry.

A federal judge has denied an injunction brought by a group of hemp companies against the Iowa law regulating hemp products and imposing THC caps on the products.

New Iowa hemp regulations restricting the sale and potency of consumable hemp products took effect on Wednesday. The rules are in place despite a federal lawsuit brought by a group of hemp companies seeking to block it.

A lawsuit filed this week in the U.S. District Court for Wyoming is challenging the recently passed state law banning hemp-derived cannabinoids including delta-8 THC, claiming the law violates the federal Farm Bill.

A group of Iowa hemp companies is suing to block the implementation of a new state law restricting THC content in consumable hemp products.

Colorado’s attorney general has filed a lawsuit against a company for allegedly marketing cannabis products as hemp products and selling THC-infused products containing 35 times more THC than the legal limit.

A Texas judge has dismissed a lawsuit by Attorney General Ken Paxton that sought to nullify voter-approved local cannabis decriminalization ordinances in Austin, Denton, Elgin, Killeen, and San Marcos.

With the Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission still embroiled in lawsuits, the launch of the state’s medical cannabis program is still months away, if not a year or more.

A dispensary in Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts has filed a lawsuit against the state Cannabis Control Commission over rules that prohibit the transport of cannabis products by boat across the Vineyard Sound to the island.

Glass House Brands Inc. has withdrawn its defamation lawsuit against Catalyst Cannabis Co., citing concerns over Catalyst’s financial viability and the potential harassment of its customers, while Catalyst’s CEO claims the withdrawal coincides with Glass House’s reluctance to produce documents for the discovery phase of the lawsuit.

Kentucky hemp and vape companies have filed a lawsuit against a new state law that limits the sale of vape products to only those approved by the FDA or those with a “safe harbor certification.”