It turns out that if you want to know the Department of Justice’s policy on marijuana enforcement, you just have to sue them. In a remarkably candid showing of the DOJ’s current policy concerning marijuana enforcement,...more
Welcome back to The Week in Weed, your Friday look at what’s happening in the world of legalized marijuana. This week, Virginia Governor Youngkin took action on the retail market bill. The Florida Supreme Court handed down...more
There Has Been Little Movement in Federal Legalization. This has led to cannabis investors and companies to downgrade expectations for federal legalization and focus their strategies on state reform. Federal lawmakers...more
Attorney General Merrick Garland has reiterated that the Department of Justice will not prioritize prosecuting marijuana use, a position that Garland expressed during his confirmation hearings. In remarks in front of a Senate...more
Prior to his Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing last week, Judge Merrick Garland had not clarified his views on marijuana policy and how he would approach the issue if confirmed as Attorney General. However, after his...more
Given the United States’ current political climate, bi-partisan unity has become a seemingly rare occurrence, especially in the country’s highest court. That’s what makes the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Timbs v....more
Since President Trump assumed office in January 2016, there has been substantial concern that the Department of Justice would take a harder line on state-legal cannabis than DOJ’s relatively tolerant approach during the Obama...more
Earlier this week, U.S. Senators Cory Gardner (R-Colo.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and U.S. Representatives David Joyce (R-Ohio) and Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) introduced the bicameral, bipartisan Strengthening the Tenth...more
As always, there are a lot of topics to cover in this edition of News Now. Here are your highlights...more
As discussed in our January 5th blog post, the Cole Memorandum was rescinded by Attorney General Jeff Sessions on January 4th of this year. The Cole Memorandum had served to formally announce the DOJ’s policy that it would...more
As we’ve blogged before, we don’t believe that Attorney General Sessions’ revocation of the Cole Memorandum will have much impact on the regulated, licensed marijuana industry. As of this post, we’ve neither heard nor read of...more
On January 4, 2018, Attorney General Jeff Sessions reversed the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) position on enforcement of federal marijuana laws. Under the Obama administration, the DOJ adopted a hands-off approach to...more
Just days after the sale of recreational cannabis became legal in California, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions issued a new policy regarding cannabis-related activities that is causing confusion for local governments — and...more
Attorney General Jeff Sessions issued a one-page memorandum on January 4, 2018 (the “Sessions Memo”) rescinding both the Cole and Ogden Memoranda which essentially established a Department of Justice (“DOJ”) prosecutorial...more
• The marijuana industry that was expected to generate roughly $40 billion in economic impact nationwide by 2021 is at a crossroads given a recent move by U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions to eliminate certain protections...more
On January 4, 2018, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions issued a memorandum (the “Sessions Memo”) on marijuana enforcement which rescinded the existing Obama-era Cole Memorandum....more
On January 4, 2018—just days after California began selling recreational marijuana and became poised to become the largest legal market for the drug in the U.S.—the Department of Justice changed tactics on marijuana...more
On January 4, 2018, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions officially rescinded all of the prior Obama-era Department of Justice (DOJ) marijuana-related guidance, including the so-called “Cole Memo.” That guidance had provided...more
Attorney General Jeff Sessions issued a one-page memorandum on December 4th, rescinding Obama-era guidance that had allowed states to legalize medical and recreational marijuana with marginal federal interference, eliminating...more
While marijuana is legal for medical and, in some instances recreational, use under the laws of 29 states plus the District of Columbia, under federal law it remains illegal....more
On January 4th, United States Attorney General Jeff Sessions issued a memo reversing federal marijuana enforcement policy, effective immediately. The decision moves the federal government away from its all but directed...more
As predicted by Politico, the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post and other sources, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions today rescinded the 2013 Cole Memorandum “Guidance Regarding Marijuana Enforcement,” which has...more
U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions yesterday rescinded the Cole Memorandum, which had directed the federal justice department to de-prioritize the prosecution of federal marijuana laws in states where the use of marijuana...more
The U. S. Department of Justice (DOJ) issued a memo dated January 4, 2018 regarding federal marijuana enforcement policy, directing all U.S. Attorneys to enforce the laws enacted by Congress and to follow well-established...more
Three days after retail sales of marijuana became legal in California, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced today a new marijuana enforcement policy which rescinds long-standing policy set by the Obama...more