Welcome back to Higher Law, our weekly briefing on all things cannabis. I'm Cheryl Miller, reporting for Law.com from Sacramento. I've barely finished putting the Christmas decorations away and I'm already getting pitches about "Valentine's Gifts for the Stoner in Your Life."

This week we're looking at a significant weed-in-the-workplace ruling out of New Jersey • Colorado legislation to protect legal weed users • Green Flower Media picks up a new D.C. lobbyist • A fizzled recreational-use initiative in Florida

Thanks for reading. Got a story idea? A tip? Send them all to me at [email protected]. Or call me at 916.448.2935. Follow me on Twitter @capitalaccounts.

 

 

New Jersey Court OKs Medical Marijuana for Workers Comp Case

New Jersey may not be ready for recreational marijuana yet, but a state appellate court just delivered a big victory for medical marijuana users.

The appellate division of the Superior Court of New Jersey this week held that a worker's compensation judge can order an employer to reimburse a worker for prescribed medical marijuana for a work-related injury. The court found no conflict between federal controlled substances law and the New Jersey Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act.

"Because we conclude the order does not require [the employer] to possess, manufacture or distribute marijuana, but only to reimburse petitioner for his purchase of medical marijuana, we discern no conflict between" state and federal laws, Judge Heidi Willis Currier wrote for the panel.

NORML notes that the New Hampshire Supreme Court issued a similar ruling last year as have state courts in Connecticut, Maine, Minnesota and New Mexico.

"Beyond serving as a terrific step forward for New Jersey, workers comp coverage will fortify medical marijuana programs following [an] adult use program's inevitable launch," Steve Schain, a senior attorney for Hoban Law Group wrote in an email. "Further, with more workers comp laws requiring coverage, health insurance carriers will soon be required to follow suit and provide coverage for medical marijuana treatment costs."

>> Meanwhile, in Colorado, state lawmakers are looking at another marijuana-in-the-workplace issue. House Rep. Jovan Melton has introduced legislation that would protect employees who consume marijuana on their own time, so long as they don't show up to work intoxicated, the Denver Post reported.

"It was just a glaring gap that we have here in the statute, especially when we're supposed to regulate marijuana like we are with alcohol," Melton told The Post. "If someone's able to drink while they're at home and on their free time, as long as they're not coming into work intoxicated, then they're not penalized with their employment."

The bill addresses a 2015 Colorado Supreme Court ruling that held an employer could fire a worker for failing a random drug test, even though his at-home legal marijuana use did not affect his work performance, because cannabis remains illegal at the federal level.

>> More reading here at ALM's Insurance Coverage Law Center.

 

 

Who Got the Work

>> Green Flower Media, a California-based cannabis education platform, has retained Bramer Group for federal lobbying services. A federal filing says the company will lobby on cannabis and hemp legislation.

>> Attorneys Ian Stewart of Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker and Thomas Norby of Brownson Norby have entered appearances for CBD producer Infinite Product Company LLC in a pending lawsuit alleging fraudulent conduct. The case was filed Nov. 27 in the U.S. District Court for California's Central District by Greg Coleman Law, Kohn Swift & Graf, and Barbat Mansour & Suciu on behalf of plaintiff Adam Dasilva. Five days earlier the FDA sent a letter to Infinite Product, warning the company that its online claims "establish that the above-named products are unapproved new drugs sold in violation" of the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.

>> Lawyers at Jackson Lewis on Friday removed a lawsuit against Canadian cannabis retailer Green Thumb Industries, cannabis producer Advanced Grow Labs, and other defendants to the U.S. District Court for California's Southern District. The complaint, for alleged breach of contract, was filed by Bona Law and Kirkpatrick & Sabarsky on behalf of Stanley Scheufler, the former chief operating officer of Advanced Grow Labs Technologies.

>> Ari Hillel Marcus of Marcus & Zelman is representing plaintiff David Katt in an Americans with Disabilities Act lawsuit against Colorado dispensary chain Lightshade. Katt, who is blind, alleges that Lightshade's website is not compatible with computer screen reader programs used by potential customers like him. Attorneys for Lightshade have not entered an appearance in the case yet.

 

 

In the Weeds

>> No Florida vote in 2020. Backers of an initiative to legalize recreational marijuana in Florida have dropped an effort to put the issue before state voters this year, citing a tight time frame to collect and submit qualifying signatures. The legal marijuana industry helped fuel an $8.7 million campaign, but it wasn't enough. Legalization hopes have turned to Republican Senator Jeff Brandes, who introduced legislation this week that legalizes adult-use marijuana for adult use and eliminates the current "vertical integration" structure. [Miami Herald]

>> U.S. House lawmakers want research roadblocks removed. At a hearing of a House Energy and Commerce health subcommittee on Wednesday, members pushed regulators to expand the number of marijuana grow sources for research. The only licensed source now is a site at the University of Mississippi, and researchers complain the product grown there is subpar. The DEA announced last year that it would expand the list of authorized growers but first needs to enact regulations to evaluate grow applications. [The Hill]

>> When hemp is both salvation and suspect. South Carolina farmer John Trenton Pendarvis worked to salvage his 25,000 hemp plants blown over by Hurricane Dorian last year. Then law enforcement arrived, arrested him for illegal cultivation and bulldozed his potentially multi-million dollar crop. Pendarvis' experience reflects the confusion and uncertainty over a myriad of ever-changing, and sometimes murky, state and federal hemp rules [The Washington Post]

>> Trulieve sues investment consulting company for libel. The Florida-based medical marijuana giant filed a libel suit in the Second Judicial Circuit Court of Gadsden County last Friday against Grizzly Research, which issued a report critical of Trulieve's operations. "This lawsuit represents Trulieve's firm stance against such false and misleading reports," Trulieve CEO Kim Rivers said in a prepared statement. Stearns Weaver Miller Weissler Alhadeff & Sitterson partners Glenn Burhans Jr. and Bridget Smitha filed the complaint. [Tallahassee Democrat]

>> A cannabis regulator struggles to enact a progressive vision. When she was named the director of the Los Angeles Department of Cannabis Regulation in 2017, Cat Packer was hailed as an activist who knew first-hand the damage the war on drugs had caused and had a plan to address it with the city's recreational licensing program. Now applicants are angry with delays and missteps. "It's one thing to pass an equitable policy," she told one unhappy crowd. "It's another thing in its entirety for it to be implemented." [Los Angeles Times]

>> Six takeaways from early recreational sales in Illinois. We won't give away all the findings but suffice it to say, demand for legal marijuana has exceeded expectation even with long lines in cold weather and taxes that could hit 41 percent soon. [Chicago Sun-Times]

>> Record tax revenue in Nevada. "A state-best $9.8 million in marijuana tax revenue was collected by Nevada in October, according to the Nevada Department of Taxation, which regulates the industry. The total, the largest since recreational sales began legal in July 2017, represents an increase of more than $1 million from September and a jump of close to $1.6 million from the October 2018." [Las Vegas Sun]

 

 

All the Calendar Things

Jan. 22 - Sid Miller, commissioner of the Texas Department of Agriculture, hosts a hearing to take public comments on the Texas hemp rules starting at 9 a.m. at the Texas Farm Bureau Conference Center in Waco.

Jan. 23 - Bisnow hosts The SoCal Cannabis CRE Revolution event in Los Angeles. Scheduled speakers include Akerman partner Joshua Mandell, Seyfarth Shaw senior counsel Stanley Jutkowitz and Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton partner Whitney Hodges.

Jan. 23 - The Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission will host a forum in Worcester to hear from applicants about problems and delays in acquiring licenses.