Legal Issues

Nebraska officials are questioning the validity of more than half of the already-validated signatures on the state’s petitions to legalize medical cannabis; advocates say the approach is “working to silence and disenfranchise” Nebraska citizens.

The Illinois Supreme Court ruled last week that the odor of burnt cannabis alone is not sufficient grounds for police to conduct vehicle searches without a warrant.

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.

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday that prosecutors cannot file gun possession charges against a Texas woman who admitted to consuming cannabis, citing a 2022 Supreme Court ruling that says modern firearm restrictions must be “consistent with this nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation.”

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.

The Vermont Supreme Court last week overruled an appeal for unemployment benefits by a medical cannabis patient who was fired last year after failing a drug test for cannabis, and who lost their unemployment benefits because of it.

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.

A Minnesota law that bans cannabis smoking in multifamily homes has taken effect however the law provides some exceptions for medical cannabis patients.

The attorneys general from Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, South Carolina, and South Dakota submitted a letter to federal regulators opposing the rescheduling of cannabis.

The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals has ruled that women registered with the state’s medical cannabis program who consume cannabis while pregnant cannot be prosecuted for child neglect.

A new Minnesota law bars police from carrying out warrantless vehicle searches based solely on the detection of cannabis odor; the law reaffirms the state’s Supreme Court ruling on the issue last year.

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.

A New Jersey appeals court ruling found that the state’s cannabis legalization law is not preempted by federal law but warned that “residents and marijuana businesses … act at the risk that their activities might be prosecuted by federal authorities.”

Medical cannabis patients in Pennsylvania could soon enjoy the state-sanctioned right to own and possess firearms, per a proposal by Republican state Sen. Dan Laughlin. Federal law, however, still prohibits people who consume cannabis from possessing firearms.

In a recent letter, 22 attorneys general called on members of Congress to tighten federal rules on hemp-derived cannabinoid products, arguing that the 2018 federal Farm Bill “unleashed… a flood of products that are nothing less than a more potent form of cannabis.”

A California auction of confiscated paraphernalia aiming to recover over $14.4 million in unpaid cannabis taxes yielded far less than expected, raising only $2,075.

A Maryland-based cannabis grower is suing Smithfield police for allegedly lying about the legality of his operation and destroying seized cannabis that could have demonstrated its lawfulness, amidst claims of justice mishandling and evidence suppression.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has filed a lawsuit against five Texas cities and their officials for adopting cannabis decriminalization policies, arguing these policies violate state laws and the state constitution.