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Welcome back to The Week in Weed, your Friday look at what’s happening in the world of legalized marijuana.

A state task force is continuing to examine issues surrounding legalized recreational use of marijuana.

Maryland regulators have given eight more medical marijuana companies the green light to begin operations, a positive sign for a program that’s been fraught with problems.

Voters in some parts of Alaska rejected efforts to ban commercial marijuana cultivation and retail sales, three years after the nation’s largest state passed a voter initiative legalizing recreational use.

And finally, a peek into the early years of some of our Supreme Court Justices:

When the justices took the bench this morning to hear oral argument in District of Columbia v. Wesby, there were two young children, dressed in their Sunday best, seated in the front row of the public section.

Something we missed that everyone needs to know?  Give us a shout in the comments.

Welcome back to The Week in Weed, your Friday look at what’s happening in the world of legalized marijuana.

Startups are finding new ways to tailor technologies specifically to cannabis businesses.

A couple of marijuana reform supporters already have a couple of commentaries flagging some decisions of new SCOTUS nominee Neil Gorsuch concerning marijuana: From Tom Angell here, “Trump’s Supreme Court Pick On Marijuana”; from Heavy.com here, “Neil Gorsuch & Marijuana: What Are His Views on Legalization?”

The first tangible results of state voters’ decision to legalize marijuana are being felt as possession and home growth of marijuana becomes legal in Maine. Voters narrowly passed the ballot question in November, and the waiting period between the vote and legalization has expired.

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Two years after Colorado amended its constitution to legalize and regulate the recreational use of marijuana, in December 2014, the states of Nebraska and Oklahoma filed a motion in  the U.S. Supreme Court for leave to file a complaint against the state of Colorado, ultimately seeking to invalidate portions of Colorado’s constitutional amendment concerning marijuana and to enjoin its implementation.

Upon request by the Supreme Court, the United States submitted an amicus brief in support of its views on the enforcement of the Controlled Substances Act (“CSA”) in states wherein the sale and distribution of marijuana has been de-criminalized.  After citing to memoranda from 2009 and 2013—in which the Department of Justice provided instructions in reviewing the prosecution of CSA violations related to marijuana use in these states—the DOJ expressed the view that the Plaintiff states’ motion should be denied.  The United States proposed denial of the motion because the case was not “appropriate… for the exercise of [the Supreme Court’s] original jurisdiction” and “[e]ntertaining the type of dispute at issue here—essentially that one State’s laws make it more likely that third parties will violate federal and state law in another State—would represent a substantial and unwarranted expansion of [the Supreme Court’s] original jurisdiction.”

The United States continued by citing Supreme Court precedent related to the Court’s original jurisdiction in disputes between or among states.  “The model case for invocation [of such] is a dispute between States of such seriousness that it would amount to casus belli if the States were fully sovereign” (emphasis added).  The United States rejected the idea that the case at bar fell into the above category, and provided examples where original jurisdiction was found (e.g., claims that an agent of the defendant state was engaging in environmental harms against plaintiff state).  Further, the United States argued that original jurisdiction is proper only where one state’s actions amounted to the direct cause of harm to another state.  Essentially, the United States argued that the Supreme Court should hear cases only where one state’s actions were the direct cause of another state’s harm.  The Plaintiff states’ contention that the de-criminalization of the sale and distribution of marijuana in Colorado would increase the amount of third-party crime in their states simply did not meet the referenced standards as Colorado did not direct or authorize such action, the United States argued.

Moreover, the United States appeared unpersuaded by the Plaintiff states’ assertion that the Supreme Court was the only venue in which they could sue Colorado.  However, the United States pointed out that the states could engage in suit at the district court level, and noted that two suits raising the issues at bar were pending in the District of Colorado courts.  Continue Reading Marijuana Controversy Not a High Priority for Supreme Court

Welcome back to The Week in Weed, your every Friday look at news from the world of legalized cannabis.  The biggest news is that the Supreme Court decided not to hear a case brought by the states of Nebraska and Oklahoma against the state of Colorado, concerning Colorado’s legalization of marijuana.  There are any number of articles on this topic, but the one to which we’ve linked, from The Washington Post, focuses on how this decision will affect legalization efforts generally.

In addition, the state of Washington has promulgated new rules governing the recall of marijuana products, and as states legalize the use of marijuana to treat post-traumatic stress disorder, many veterans are already using the drug, regardless of its legality or its proven effectiveness.

 

Washington State marijuana businesses are now subject to new rules under which various products can be recalled and even destroyed due to pesticide use.

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — A growing number of states are weighing whether to legalize marijuana to treat post-traumatic stress disorder. But for many veterans, the debate is already over.

Marijuana legalization opponents are facing an increasingly uphill battle.

 

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Welcome back to The Week in Weed, your weekly look at news concerning marijuana.  Massachusetts is debating the legalization of cannabis for recreational purposes, while Ohio is considering legalizing medical marijuana.  Colorado, meanwhile, is waiting for word on whether the lawsuit filed by its neighbors, Nebraska and Oklahoma, will be heard by the Supreme Court.

Supporters and foes of legalizing marijuana gathered at the Massachusetts Statehouse on Monday to weigh in on a proposal that would allow the recreational use and possession of marijuana up to an ounce for those 21 and older.

The group behind a new push to legalize medical marijuana in Ohio has submitted its first batch of signatures to state officials, paving the way toward a more significant spring and summer push.

The U.S. Supreme Court may finally be nearing a decision on whether to hear a case brought against Colorado by two neighboring states over marijuana legalization.  The states are arguing that cannabis from Colorado is turning up in their states, in violation of their anti-drug laws.

As always, let us know in the comments if there’s a story we’ve missed.