A Rhode Island Superior Court judge has halted the Town of Smithfield’s attempts to limit medical marijuana cultivation by patients through its zoning laws. In April, the Smithfield (RI) Town Council passed an ordinance that amended the Town’s zoning laws by prohibiting licensed medical marijuana patients from possessing more than two mature marijuana plants and...
The enactment of medicinal marijuana laws in 2013 and the recent enactment of laws permitting the cultivation and sale of recreational marijuana in Massachusetts commencing in July 2018 have created great opportunities for owners and developers of warehouse and industrial real estate in the commonwealth. However, these opportunities come with particular legal and business risks...
Massachusetts lawmakers have approved compromise legislation to legalize recreational marijuana use and sales in the Commonwealth. The bill has been sent to Governor Baker, who is expected to sign it. The new law would make a number of changes to the recreational marijuana law that voters approved in a referendum last November, (see Opportunities and Risks...
As the prospect of legalized recreational marijuana nears for Commonwealth residents, some serious attention needs to be given to the unique issues Massachusetts-based marijuana businesses will face in the coming years and months. On top of strict regulations, legislative uncertainty, and limited access to banking, taxpayers in this industry must contend with some unique federal...
Marvin Washington, a former National Football League player, and others have filed a lawsuit in federal court in New York City against Attorney General Jeff Sessions and the acting head of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Charles Rosenberg. Other plaintiffs include two children who use medical marijuana, an Iraqi war veteran with post-traumatic stress disorder, and...
In May 2017, we reported on Callaghan v. Darlington Fabrics and the Moore Company, a Rhode Island Superior Court decision that applied workplace anti-discrimination protections to medical marijuana users. Massachusetts has now joined the club. In Barbuto v. Advantage Sales and Marketing LLC, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has concluded that the Commonwealth’s general anti-discrimination law, M.G.L....
The Rhode Island House Committee on Judiciary has recommended passage of a revised bill recommending a study commission for marijuana legalization. The former bill was sent back to the Committee last week as the composition of the proposed commission was considered by some to be too “anti-marijuana.” The revised bill, H 5551 Substitute A4, would add...
On December 15, 2016, the Regulation and Taxation of Marijuana Act (the “MA Act”) became effective in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, decriminalizing marijuana ownership and use for private citizens and mandating the creation of a regulatory system able to sustain state-legal recreational marijuana businesses by January 1, 2018. The impact of such sweeping changes (along...
Legalization of recreational marijuana in Rhode Island will not happen in 2017, as the Rhode Island House Committee on Judiciary has approved a bill recommending a study commission for marijuana legalization. The bill, H 5551 Substitute A2, would create a 17 member Special Legislative Commission to study the effects of legalizing recreational marijuana use on residents...
NASCAR reportedly stripped the logo of Veedverks, a Colorado based medical marijuana company, off of the hood of driver Carl Long’s car last week. NASCAR claims that the logo did not receive prior approval as is required under NASCAR rules. The situation illustrates the difficulty that marijuana companies are having promoting their brands in ways...
