Welcome back to Higher Law, our weekly briefing on all things cannabis. I'm Cheryl Miller, reporting for Law.com from Sacramento, where triple-digit summer heat has arrived like a blast furnace. If you're feeling a bit wilted like me, Greenlight Approved has seven ideas for improving your summer with marijuana. Cannabis margaritas anyone?

This week we hear from in-house counsel Alissa Jubelirer, who left Groupon for greener business at Revolution Enterprises. And a Colorado company trying to get its seized hemp shipment back from Idaho authorities says the USDA has its back. Plus, see who Canopy Growth has turned to for lobbying help at the U.S. Capitol and in Sacramento.

Thanks for reading. Hopefully you have some vacation time coming this summer. But please don't forget to send a tip, a story idea or a postcard now and then. You can reach me at [email protected]. Or you can call at 916-448-2935. Follow me on Twitter @capitalaccounts.

 

 

Leaving Groupon for the Green Rush

Alissa "Ali" Jubelirer, formerly an in-house executive at Groupon, recently left the global e-commerce company to take over as the chief lawyer for cannabis firm Revolution Enterprises. Jubelirer spent more than seven years in Groupon's legal department in Chicago, where she served as vice president, deputy general counsel and global employment and chief compliance officer.

My colleague Phillip Bantz chatted with Jubelirer about her decision to jump into the cannabis industry and how she deals with all the regulatory challenges. Here are a few snippets of their conversation.

Law.com: What were some of the factors you considered when you decided to make the transition from Groupon to Revolution Enterprises?

Ali Jubelirer: I loved Groupon. I had an awesome run there and this was really not about leaving Groupon so much as jumping into what I considered to be an amazing opportunity to get in at the ground floor of a newish industry and really help build or enhance what Revolution has already accomplished in the few years that they've existed. When I started at Groupon it was 2011 and there were some similarities in terms of my excitement about getting in there and building. I'm ready to do it again.

Law.com: What was it that attracted you to the cannabis industry?

AJ: I think that the health and wellness aspect of it is really amazing, and there's still so much that we don't know in that respect. Because it's [marijuana] illegal under federal law, the research that's been done is in its infancy and I don't think we even yet understand all the health and wellness benefits. But I have personal experience with friends who have suffered from cancer and have found relief from using cannabis products. I've heard anecdotally from other friends about their experience with CBD about how it helps them sleep and reduces anxiety.

Law.com: As Rev expands nationally, you're going to have to deal with different state laws and gray areas. That lack of uniformity seems daunting.

AJ: It is a really big challenge. The regulatory framework in every state is different. With my background in global compliance, I've had the experience of having to work with patchworks of different laws in different countries. Even in the United States, with employment laws, for example, every state has different employment laws that you're going to have to comply with. I have experience managing that.

But it is a big undertaking. For me, I'll have to get up to speed very quickly on the regulatory framework for each state and make sure that we have processes and policies in place so that we're complying. And then, of course, it will be training employees so that they also understand what's expected of them. And monitoring and enforcement of the regulatory framework—we take that very seriously because we want to make sure that we're doing things by the book and putting out exceptional products within that framework.

 

 

In Hemp Battle, Big Sky Cites USDA Opinion

The Colorado company whose hemp shipment was seized as illegal contraband by Idaho police earlier this year is using a recent U.S. Department of Agriculture opinion as ammunition in its litigation.

Big Sky Scientific, which is suing in the Ninth Circuit to get its hemp—valued at $1 million—back from Idaho, filed a copy of USDA general counsel Stephen Vaden's findings that states cannot block interstate shipment of the commodity made legal in the 2018 Farm Bill. Vaden, formerly a Jones Day associate, wrote in May that he didn't agree with a federal court magistrate's reasoning in allowing the seizure to stand.

"As USDA explains, the removal of hemp from the [Controlled Substances Act] is self-executing and no other action is necessary to execute this removal," Stoel Rives partner Christopher Pooser wrote to the court on behalf of Big Sky Scientific. "The opinion thus refutes the Idaho State Police's contention that hemp remains a controlled substance under the CSA."

Although Vaden's opinion doesn't carry the force of law, its "'rational validity' … demonstrates that the court should give it 'persuasive, if not decisive, force,'" Pooser wrote, citing a Ninth Circuit ruling from 2008, Tablada v. Thomas.

Attorneys for the state of Idaho have not responded to the filing. The Ninth Circuit has not yet announced a date for oral arguments in the case.

Lawyers from Hogan Lovells are also on the team defending Big Sky in the appeals court.

 

Who Got the Work

>> Canopy Growth has hired lobbying firm Platinum Advisors for advocacy work in both Washington, D.C., and California. The Ontario, Canada-based cannabis company will work with Platinum's Eric Huey on federal issues related to marijuana banking, marijuana-legal states and cannabis and hemp agricultural issues, according to filings. Canopy also retained Platinum in May to lobby on marijuana issues in California.

>> Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried has named 18 people to her newly created Medical Marijuana Advisory Committee. Members include Cohen Kotlerpartner David Kotler; Zachary Kobrin, special counsel at Akerman; Dean Mead & Dunbar of counsel Dan Russell; and Vicente Sederberg partner Sally Kent Peebles.

>> Jimmy Fremgen, a former committee consultant with the California Legislature, has launched a cannabis consulting firm, Catuli Consulting. Fremgen's resume includes stints in Washington, D.C. as an aide to Rep. Doris Matsui, D-California, former Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin and Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Maryland.

>> Tim Morland, has joined California-based Kiva Confections as director of compliance and government affairs. Morland was previously compliance and policy director for Origin House, a cannabis brand development company.

>> Cole Schotz represented bulk organics producer RFI LLC in a partnership deal with hemp brand Elixinol Global Ltd. The partnership creates a new incorporated entity, Infusion Strategies. Cole Schotz member Jordan Fisch advised RFI.

>> Aleece Burgio has joined Barclay Damon as special counsel in the Buffalo office, where she will focus on structuring, licensing and maintaining complaint cannabis businesses, according to the firm. Prior to joining Barclay Damon, Burgio was senior counsel at McGuire Development.

 

 

In the Weeds…

• CBD is hot, hot, hot—but not on Facebook. The social network has been yanking ads that mention cannabidiol, the non-intoxicating compound. A Facebook spokesperson confirmed that users can't post ads about CBD. The company's policies don't specifically mention CBD. They do ban the promotion of "unsafe supplements," as determined by Facebook in its sole discretion. [The Verge] • Nevada is the first state to ban most pre-employment marijuana testing. Gov. Steve Sisolak signed legislation barring employers from turning down job applicants for having marijuana in their system. The ban exempts testing for public safety positions and other jobs that "in the determination of the employer, could adversely affect the safety of others." [ABCNews]

• California prisoners can legally possess marijuana. They just can't consume it. The Third District Court of Appeal in Sacramento overturned the convictions of five prisoners found with pot in their cells. "Consumption, not possession, is the act voters determined should remain criminalized if the user is in prison," the panel wrote. The justices noted that marijuana in the pokey, just like alcohol and porn, could still be banned by a prison's rules. But just keeping a jar of weed by a prison bunk isn't a crime, they said. [The Mercury News]

• Eaze is facing a lawsuit over its credit card transactions. Herban Industries, which operates the cannabis delivery service Chill, sued rival Eaze in San Francisco Superior Court, accusing the delivery platform of disguising cannabis transactions, which could run afoul of credit card bans on marijuana purchases, as sales of "dog toys, dive gear, carbonated drinks, drone components, and face creams." An Eaze spokeswoman said the allegations are false. [Mashable]

• The VA said no to a dispensary worker seeking a home loan. The Massachusetts veteran, speaking to the Boston Globe on the condition of anonymity, said he was denied the VA loan in January because he's an assistant manager at a state-licensed cannabis store. The vet's congresswoman said the VA told her the man's income is not "stable and reliable." [The Boston Globe]

 

 

Your Calendar: All the Things

June 16-18- The World Cannabis Congress takes place in Saint John, New Brunswick. Scheduled speakers include Brazeau Seller Law associate Mario Torres, Newstrike / Up Cannabis Inc. general counsel Ruth Chun and Aird Berlis partner Sherri Altshuler.

June 18 - Duane Morris presents the webinar "IP Issues Facing the Cannabis Industry: Hot Topics in Patent, Trademark and Branding Protection and Enforcement." Presenters are firm attorneys Christiane Schuman Campbell, Vincent Capuano, Gretchen Temeles and Seth Goldberg.

June 19 - The Washington State Bar Association hosts a webinar on hemp-derived CBD in Washington state and around the country. Scheduled panelists include Joshua Ashby, counsel to Lane Powell, Harrisk Bricken attorney Daniel Shortt' and Gleam Law attorney Ammon Ford.

June 20 - BDS Analytics presents a webinar on the state of legal cannabis markets.