A group of Illinois cannabis companies face an antitrust lawsuit alleging that they maintained illegal interlocking directorates. An interlocking directorate is where a person from one company serves as an officer or director at a competing company in violation of Section 8 of the Clayton Act. On April 18, 2022, a plaintiff named True Social
Attorney General Sessions rescinded, effective January 4, 2018, previous enforcement priorities of the DOJ related to marijuana – including the Cole Memo. The Sessions Memo dictates that federal prosecutors should follow the “Principles of Federal Prosecution” originally set forth in 1980 and subsequently refined over time in chapter 9-27.000 of the U.S. Attorney’s Manual. Sessions goes on to state in his memo that “These principles require federal prosecutors deciding which cases to prosecute to weigh all relevant considerations, including federal law enforcement priorities set by the Attorney General, the seriousness of the crime, the deterrent effect of criminal prosecution, and the cumulative impact of particular crimes on the community.” It is important to note that Sessions has not previously set any specific enforcement priorities with respect to marijuana, nor has this memo created any new enforcement priorities of the DOJ. Rather Sessions has removed the foundational guidance that states have relied on to regulate the production and distribution of marijuana pursuant to state law and the will of each states’ citizens. The Cole Memo actually set 8 enforcement priorities for the DOJ with respect to marijuana, which Sessions has now unilaterally rescinded.
Continue Reading The Sessions Memo
Last week, the DOJ sent a letter to trustees who handle consumer bankruptcy reminding them that marijuana is a federally illegal drug and warned them not to handle any money from the sale of marijuana-related property. The letter goes on to state “Our goal is to ensure that trustees are not placed in the
The Colorado adult-use marijuana industry is off to a record-setting start in 2017, with sales increasing by more than 30% over figures from 2016. This is on the heels of a record setting $1.3 Billion in sales last year and threats over a federal crackdown on adult-use marijuana.
What does this mean?
If the trends
Yesterday, Sean Spicer attempted to call out a difference between medical and recreational marijuana at the federal level. He clearly does not understand that ALL marijuana is federally illegal. Further, he made a poor and factually incorrect analogy by comparing the current opioid abuse crisis to marijuana use. Spicer ended his comments on recreational
There has been a lot of speculation about what a Trump administration, and particularly a DOJ lead by Jeff Sessions, will mean for our burgeoning Marijuana industry. The short answer is nobody knows, and given the fact that the Trump team seems intent on using obfuscation as a strategy, I don’t think we will
A favorable ruling from the Ninth Circuit in United States v. McIntosh is a reassuring win for the medical marijuana industry. This federal case concluded that § 542 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act prohibits DOJ from spending money on actions that prevent medical marijuana states giving practical effect to their state laws that authorize
This ruling is a definitive win for medical marijuana business that are operating consistent with state regulations. The Rohrabacher-Farr amendment to last year’s spending bill lists the states that have medical marijuana laws, and mandates that the DOJ is barred from using federal funds to “prevent such State from implementing their own State laws