Recently, the Department of Health and Human Services recommended to the Drug Enforcement Administration that cannabis be rescheduled on the Controlled Substances Act (“CSA”) from a I to a III. At the same time, the SAFER Banking Act is winding its way through the Senate. And as of October 26, the cannabis industry will try to end prohibition through the courts. Cannabis litigation at this level has been tried before and failed. This time, however, may be different for a few important reasons (not the least of which is that renowned litigator David Boies is leading the charge). I’ve been practicing in this space for 14 years, and this is really the first time that all three branches of government are seeing the cannabis movement all at once, which is exciting and should give the industry some much needed hope.Continue Reading Cannabis Litigation Alert: Commerce Clause Back on Blast

 Yesterday, details of the Fiscal Year 2018 Budget were released.  Congress has once again elected to prohibit the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) from spending money on actions that prevent medical marijuana states giving practical effect to their state laws that authorize the use, distribution, possession, or cultivation of medical marijuana.  Congress also continued existing provisions

President Obama approved the 2016 federal budget and it contained a prohibition that none of the funds made available to the Department of Justice may be used, with respect to any of the States that have state-legal medical marijuana programs, to prevent any of them from implementing their own laws that authorize the use, distribution,