After Maine Agrees to Drop Residency Requirement for Marijuana Licenses, Challengers File Suit Against Residency Preference in City Ordinance

Faced with a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of its residency requirement for marijuana licensees, the State of Maine has agreed to no longer enforce the requirement. 

As we wrote about recently, out-of-state businesses had challenged as unconstitutional a provision in Maine’s marijuana licensing rules that required the majority of the ownership interest and all of the officers, directors, managers, and general partners of business applicants to be held by Maine residents. However, after being “advised by the Attorney General that the [Residency Requirement] is subject to significant constitutional challenges and is not likely to withstand such challenges . . . , defendants will not be enforcing the Residency Requirement or any agency rules, regulations or guidance which enforce or implement the Residency Requirement.” Stipulation of Dismissal, NPG, LLC, et al. v. Figueroa, Case No. 1:20-cv-00107-NT (D. Maine, May 11, 2020). Read More ›

Michigan Marijuana Regulatory Agency Furloughs Likely to Cost State Money

As Michigan, like every other state, has grappled with enormous budget pressures as a result of restrictions needed to battle the scourge of the COVID-19 pandemic, one rare bright spot has been increasing tax revenues from the sale of cannabis products. April sales data from Michigan’s Marijuana Regulatory Agency (MRA) shows roughly $34 million in medical marijuana sales, and a record $28 million in adult-use sales. Those sales have generated $2.8 million in marijuana excise tax revenue and $3.7 million in sales tax revenue. Read More ›

Maine’s Marijuana License Residency Requirement Challenged in Court; Could Illinois and Michigan Laws and Ordinances Face Similar Scrutiny?

In 2016, Maine voters opted to legalize adult-use marijuana in their state (medical marijuana has been legal since 1999). After spending a few years fleshing out the details and implementing the regulatory structure, state officials recently began accepting applications for licenses for adult-use marijuana businesses. Just last month, Maine issued 31 conditional licenses. Read More ›

FDA Sends CBD Warning to Ex-NFLer making COVID-19 Claims

Neuro XPF, a company which sells CBD was ordered to stop selling its CBD products by the FDA because it make claims related to preventing the contraction of COVID-19.

Neuro XPF stated that “your best defense against the COVID-19 blitz starts with a strong immune system.” Kyle Turley also has been tweeting that CBD can “prevent and cure” the coronavirus as well as “other diseases.” Read More ›

Michigan Continues to Respond to Cannabis Industry Needs

Over the last week, as states continue to react to the COVID-19 crisis, we have reported on regulatory changes and “stay at home” orders in Michigan and Illinois, and their impacts on the cannabis industry. At Dykema’s COVID-19 Resource Center, we have compiled and are updating on a daily basis a Quick Reference Guide to State-Level Shelter-in-Place Orders and Essential Services Provisions. Read More ›

Michigan and Illinois Impose Stay-at-Home Orders – Implications for Cannabis Businesses

Michigan

On March 23, 2020, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer joined several other states in addressing the coronavirus outbreak by issuing an executive order (the “Michigan Order”) ordering individuals to stay at home, subject to certain exceptions. To this end, the Michigan Order requires all businesses to temporarily suspend all operations to the extent the business requires “workers to leave their homes or places of residence, except to the extent that those workers are necessary to sustain or protect life or to conduct minimum basic operations.” Minimum basic operations include the protection of inventory, and products, obviously a significant concern for growers. Read More ›

Illinois and Michigan Adjust Rules for Marijuana Businesses During Coronavirus Outbreak

The coronavirus pandemic is having a significant impact on retail businesses throughout the county, including medical and adult-use cannabis businesses. To address the health and safety concerns of customers, employees, and businesses during the coronavirus outbreak, Michigan and Illinois announced temporary rules for their marijuana businesses. Read More ›

FDA Work Related Cannabidiol Products Update

On March 5, 2020 the FDA sent out a notice about work being done on Cannabidiol products. The announcement seeks information from the public in the form of research about the effects of Cannabidiol products. The FDA is reopening the public docket established in May 2019 for the submission of data related to the efficacy and safety of Cannabidiol. The docket includes a mechanism for stakeholders to submit data and information that is confidential.  Read More ›

Environmental, Health & Safety Regulations in the Cannabis Industry

Blog Post is Co-Authored by Grant Gilezan and Jerry Hincka from EHS Support

Just because cannabis is federally illegal, doesn’t mean Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations aren’t applicable to your cannabis-related business. Federal employee and environmental protection regulations do apply and you should be aware of the inherent risks and regulatory fines associated with operating in the cannabis industry. Read More ›

Prohibiting Recourse to Receivership or Bankruptcy for Cannabis Industry Can Perversely Assist Bad Actor’s Continuation of Bad Acts—A Real Life Analogy

Currently there are no clear laws specifically addressing the means for addressing insolvency issues for debtors and creditors involved in the Cannabis industry. Like the industry itself, the laws are evolving. Using a Cannabis grower business as an example, at this time the Federal Court system is not available to address such entities insolvency issues. Even if state courts are theoretically willing to consider a receivership proceeding, without statutory protections or clarity addressing the licensing issues, it would be a challenge to find a person with sufficient expertise in addressing financially troubled companies willing to undertake the risks associated with acting as the receiver and operating the highly regulated company.   Read More ›