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On December 7, 2020, the Oakland County Circuit Court issued a preliminary injunction in Fire Farm, LLC et al v City of Berkley et al, Case No. 2020-184754-CZ, enjoining the City of Berkley, Michigan from issuing licenses to marijuana establishments pursuant to the Medical Marihuana Facilities Licensing Act, MCL 333.27101-333.27801 (“MMFLA”), or the Michigan Regulation and Taxation of Marihuana Act, MCL 333.27951-333.27967 (“MRTMA”), due to the likelihood that the City’s process for scoring and awarding licenses fails to comport with the requirements of MRTMA.
Continue Reading Court Enjoins City’s Competitive Process for Selecting Adult Use License Applications

Following up on our previous posts (here and here) regarding lawsuits by non-residents challenging the residency requirement in Maine’s marijuana licensing law as violating the Dormant Commerce Clause, a recent lawsuit filed by residents of Maine is asking the District Court of Maine to declare that the requirement does not violate the Dormant Commerce Clause.
Continue Reading Maine Residents Seek to Have Federal Court Declare Maine’s Residency Requirement Constitutional

As we have previously reported, the city of Portland, Maine, has been the most prominent recent test case over municipalities seeking to favor their own residents in marijuana licensing.

On August 14, 2020, a federal court granted a preliminary injunction in favor of out-of-state businesses claiming that the City’s licensing system unconstitutionally favored residents over non-residents by basing licensing decisions in part on whether an applicant is a Maine resident. August 14, 2020 Order, Wellness Connection v. City of Portland, Docket No. 2:20-CV-00208-NT (W.D. Maine). In granting the injunction, the court held that the City failed to justify that its residency preference was necessary to achieve a legitimate purpose, which the City argued “was to ensure that the City understood the amount and quality of oversight and could easily verify any past violations.” Id. at 24.Continue Reading Federal Court Signals Municipalities Cannot Give Preference to Residents for Marijuana Licenses

Cannabis companies nationwide are facing yet another statutory obstacle that can have serious (and potential ruinous) consequences for the emerging industry if not appropriately addressed—the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”). There is a recent uptick in class-action lawsuits filed against cannabis companies across the country premised on alleged violations of the TCPA including lawsuits in Michigan and California. These complaints allege cannabis companies sent unsolicited marketing text messages or placed automated phone calls to individuals without their consent. Cannabis dispensaries and other cannabis-related businesses should add TCPA compliance protocols to their checklist of regulatory requirements to be satisfied in this quickly emerging industry.
Continue Reading Why Cannabis Companies Need to Care About the TCPA

On July 8, 2020, the Michigan Industrial Hemp Growers Act (“IHGA”), 2020 PA 137, MCL 333.28101-333.28701, went into effect (which was somewhat surprising since the legislation was reported from committee only a few weeks beforehand).  The new law creates a regulatory scheme for industrial hemp that should allow Michigan to obtain approval from the United States Department of Agriculture (“USDA”) of its plan to administer an industrial hemp program under the 2018 Farm Bill.  Currently, the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (“MDARD”) administers an industrial hemp pilot program under the Industrial Hemp Research and Development Act (“IHRDA”), MCL 286.841-286.859, pursuant to the 2014 Farm Bill.
Continue Reading Michigan Adopts New Hemp Law for Federal Approval of Hemp Program; What’s Next?