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Welcome back to Higher Law, our weekly briefing on all things cannabis. I'm Cheryl Miller, reporting for Law.com from Sacramento. Thanks for stopping by before prepping that Labor Day weekend barbecue.

This week we're looking at:

• The Ninth Circuit's take (or not) on interstate hemp • The DEA's plan for better research pot • CBD work for a former acting AG • Texas hemp guidance, in song

Thanks, as always, for reading Higher Law. Got a story tip? Feedback on the newsletter? Send them all to me at [email protected]. You can also reach me at 916.448.2935. Follow me on Twitter @capitalaccounts.

The Ninth Circuit Weighs Hemp

It doesn't seem like a Colorado CBD company will be getting its seized hemp shipment back any time soon.

Attorneys for Big Sky Scientific on Wednesday tried to make the case to a Ninth Circuit panel that the company's truckload of Colorado-bound hemp nabbed by Idaho police in January should be returned under provisions of the 2018 Farm Bill. But the three judges were less interested in considering the legality of interstate hemp transportation than whether the industry-watched case should be kicked out to Idaho state courts.

"Why can't you vigorously litigate your position in front of the state court and see what happens?" Senior Judge Michael Daly Hawkins of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit asked Big Sky Scientific's attorney, Stoel Rives partner Christopher Pooser, just seconds into his opening argument. "If you come out on the wrong end, you can always come back here."

Big Sky attorneys from Stoel Rives and Logan Hovells, of course, are seeking a broader Ninth Circuit ruling that states can't block interstate shipments of legally grown hemp. So too are the lawyers at Duane Morris, who submitted an amicus brief in the case on behalf of the American Trade Association for Cannabis and Hemp.

Hawkins and fellow appellate Judges Jay Bybee and M. Margaret McKeown were engaged in arguments from the start. Whether at least two of the panelists will decide the case should stay in the Ninth Circuit, I can't predict.

In the meantime, Big Sky's Hemp remains locked up somewhere in Idaho, where authorities have deemed it illegal drug contraband. And in South Dakota, a driver moving 300 pounds of commercial hemp from Colorado to Minnesota awaits his fate after being charged with marijuana possession.

Better Research Weed May be on the Way

Last week we wrote about an Arizona researcher who sued the feds in an attempt to expand the number of licensed facilities that can grow marijuana for medical studies. The stuff coming from the the lone licensee, the University of Mississippi, is of such poor quality that it's hampering studies, said Dr. Sue Sisley, a scientist with the Scottsdale Research Institute.

"Simply put, this cannabis is sub-par," Sisley's attorney. Yetter Coleman associate Shane Pennington, wrote in the complaint filed in the U.S. District Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.

Well this week, with a court deadline approaching in Sisley's case, the DEA announced plans for potentially processing almost three dozen research-grow applications that have been languishing in the agency's files.

"I am pleased that DEA is moving forward with its review of applications for those who seek to grow marijuana legally to support research," U.S. Attorney General William Barr said in a prepared statement. "The Department of Justice will continue to work with our colleagues at the Department of Health and Human Services and across the Administration to improve research opportunities wherever we can."

Not everyone is optimistic. NORML executive director Erik Altieri noted that the DEA only said it would promulgate rules for processing pot-growing applications, not process them quickly. "For the past three years, the DEA has failed to take any steps to follow through on its promise to facilitate clinical cannabis research, and today's announcement makes it clear that this foot-dragging will continue," he said.

But Joshua Horn, co-chair of Fox Rothschild's cannabis practice, told the Philadelphia Inquirer that he hopes "this is a further reflection of the federal government accepting the fact that cannabis may provide certain health benefit to patients in this country."

Who Got the Work

• Former acting U.S. attorney general Matthew Whitaker, along with his law firm Graves Garrett, will serve as outside counsel to Canadian CBD company Alternate Health Corp. Whitaker will advise the company as it divests its cannabis assets to focus solely on CBD, Alternate Health president Robert Blaine said in a statement.

• We're not sure if this qualifies as work, but Texas attorneys Will Hutson and Chris Harris this week produced some timely legal advice on marijuana—in song. Hemp is no longer considered a controlled substance in the Lone Star state. But as the criminal defense lawyers from Hutson & Harris in Waco note, Texas isn't exactly stocked with testing labs that can tell whether that green stuff in a baggie is low-THC hemp or illegal marijuana. So their advice to anyone quizzed by law enforcement about a foreign substance in their possession? "The only correct answer is, 'I can't be sure. You're going to have to test it." Their YouTube ditty, "Nobody Knows (If It's Pot Or If It's Hemp)," serves as a reminder. "You don't have to lie when a cop says what's this / After all you're not a freakin' scientist." You can check out Hutson & Harris' greatest hits here, including the 2015 classic "Don't Eat Your Weed."

In the Weeds

>> Who are the top Florida attorneys in the cannabis space? That's a question sure to spark debate. But my fearless colleague Catherine Wilson makes the case for her dynamic dozen choices. Who's No. 1? How about the lawyer who calls himself #PotDaddy on Twitter? [Daily Business Review]

>> Is Minnesota the next state to go legal? New York, New Jersey and Florida might have something to say about that but Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz has ordered state agencies to prepare for legalization. Senate Republicans oppose any attempt to create a recreational-use program. Walz said he's relying on legalization supporters to push lawmakers to act. [AP]

>> Florida's vertical integration scheme for medical marijuana operators will be considered by the state Supreme Court. A split appeals court this week declined to order an en banc hearing of a July panel ruling that found requirements that each licensee grow, process and distribute its products is unconstitutional. Five justices on the First District Court of Appeal recused themselves from the case. They did not explain why. [ News Service of Florida]

>> It's 'Cannabis 2.0′ time in Washington state. With Washington marking five years of cannabis legalization, state leaders are considering revamping rules to allow for home deliveries of medical marijuana, to encourage more minority ownership of pot businesses and to allow small growers to increase the size of their operations.[AP]

>> Take your CBD cream to sea, sailor. In new guidelines, the U.S. Navy says hemp-derived CBD creams are OK for personnel use, so long as the THC content stays below 0.3 percent. CBD edibles and patches (and, of course, marijuana) are still forbidden, however. [KPBS]

The Calendar: What's Next

Aug. 30 - Applications for California's equity grant program are due. Up to $10 million in grants will be distributed under the program by June 30, 2020.

Sept. 4-6 - MJBizConINT'L takes place in Toronto. Scheduled speakers include Locke Lord associate Neha Ahuja, Vicente Sederberg associate Courtney Barnes and Adam Fayne, co-chair of Saul Ewing Arnstein & Lehr's cannabis practice

Sept. 6 - The Southern Hemp Expo takes place in Franklin, Tennessee. Alexander Buscher of Buscher Law and Bob Hoban of Hoban Law Group are scheduled to speak at the event.