Welcome back to Higher Law, our weekly briefing on all things cannabis. I'm Cheryl Miller, reporting from a hermetically sealed office for Law.com from Sacramento.

This week we're looking at: • DLA Piper's global cannabis practice • California's illicit market troubles • A new federal lobbyist on CBD issues • Proskauer Rose attorneys' take on workplace weed

Thanks as always for reading. Share those tips and story ideas–but no germs, please–at [email protected]. Or call me at 916.448.2935. Follow me on Twitter @capitalaccounts. And a shout-out to ALM's new Legal Radar site—a continuously updated news feed personalized to key interest areas. Including cannabis! Visit our FAQ here.

 

DLA Piper Joins Worldwide Cannabis Trend

DLA Piper is taking its cannabis practice global, my colleague Hannah Roberts reports at Law.com.

The firm announced late last week that the practice will be part of the life sciences sector and will be headed up by Toronto-based corporate partner Robert Fonn and London senior associate Dylan Kennett.

"With the likes of Canada leading the way in liberalizing cannabis in a considered manner, it was only a matter of time before other countries looked to Canada's example on how best to similarly regulate their own markets," Kennett said in a prepared statement.

The firm's cannabis practice will include 70 other lawyers in more than 15 countries.

DLA Piper's move is part of a global expansion in cannabis legal work. Earlier this month, U.K. firm Ince Gordon Dadds hired a cannabis law partner from specialist firm Mackrell Turner Garrett to kickstart its own practice, with Allen & Overy, Hill Dickinson, Arnold & Porter, DAC Beachcroft and Memery Crystal having also expanding their offerings in the area.

California's Fight Over Illicit Market

California regulators, and the governor's office, got an earful this week from lawmakers frustrated with the state's enduring illicit marijuana market.

At a joint legislative hearing Wednesday, Assembly members complained that the Bureau of Cannabis Control and other agencies need to do more to stop unlicensed operators, who, by one estimate, account for 75 percent of marijuana sales in the state.

"The monster that we are trying to tackle is the competitor to the legal market," said Assemblyman Tom Lackey, who described himself as "a Mormon Republican fighting for cannabis." The Southern California legislator co-authored legislation to temporarily eliminate a marijuana cultivation tax and cut an excise tax on sales from 15 percent for three years to provide relief to licensees.

"I don't think we can sustain a legal market unless we're having a robust, and I mean robust, enforcement effort," Lackey said.

Lawmakers also expressed dissatisfaction that Gov. Gavin Newsom has issued only vague budget proposals about consolidating the state's three marijuana licensing entities and reviewing marijuana tax rates, some of the highest in the nation.

Lori Ajax, head of the state Bureau of Cannabis Control said regulators are focused on compliance, but they've also referred about 2,300 complaints to an enforcement unit since 2018.

Clint Kellum, a budget analyst with Newsom's Department of Finance, said balancing compliance with enforcement is a "sustainability question."

"If we put 1,000 people out there today to crack down on the illegal market, will they be needed a year from now?" He asked. "And that comes at a cost to the fee-payers."

Who Got the Work

>> Jenner & Block partner Andrew Lichtman entered an appearance for Aurora Cannabis and several individual defendants in a pending securities lawsuit filed by Andrew Warren last month. Warren is represented by Carella, Byrne, Cecchi, Olstein, Brody & Agnello in the suit filed in the U.S. District Court for New Jersey. The case was assigned to U.S. District Judge John Michael Vazquez.

>> California-based Traditional Medicinals has retained Washington, D.C., lobbyist Tami Wahl, according to disclosures posted Feb. 21. Wahl will work to advance House Resolution 5587, legislation that would authorize manufacturers to market hemp-derived CBD as a dietary supplement, according to the filing.

In the Weeds…

• Cutting through the haze of workplace weed. Proskauer Rose's Evandro Gigante and Hayley Fritchie write that employers who are delaying policies until there's a federal standard on employee marijuana use are taking a big risk. "For starters, many states require that drug and alcohol policies be written down and distributed to employees, especially where an employer intends to conduct testing," they write. "Moreover, the generations currently entering the workforce highly value openness and transparency, and a clear workplace drug policy can help recruit and retain new talent." [Bloomberg Law]

• Colorado rejects bill to shield pot-smoking workers. A legislative committee unanimously voted down legislation that would have protected workers who legally use marijuana on their own time from being fired. Kimberlie Ryan, an employment attorney with the Ryan Law Firm, said lawmakers "missed an amazing opportunity." [The Denver Post]

• Cuomo will tour but not taste. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo says he'll visit Massachusetts, Illinois, and California or Colorado to study how states with legal recreational markets work. But Cuomo won't be sampling the products on his trip."The proposal is to bring a person with me who will be the official taster, who has a lot of experience in cannabis and different formats of cannabis and edibles versus smoking cannabis," he told reporters. [High Times]

• A judge has blocked new dispensary licenses in Arkansas. Has any state launched a competitive marijuana licensing program without attracting litigation? Pulaski County Circuit Judge Wendell Griffen granted a temporary restraining order this week blocking Arkansas regulators from issuing additional licenses.to sell medical marijuana. Owners of one applicant company, Medicanna, sued after the state granted a license to a lower-scoring competitor. [AP]

• OSHA is scrutinizing East Coast marijuana companies. Curaleaf NJ, Surterra and Trulieve have all been served violation notices by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration in recent weeks. Trulieve in Florida was fined for violations of respiratory protection and hazard communication rules. Surterra's three violations were cleared after the Florida company fixed the OSHA-cited problems, a spokeswoman said. And in New Jersey, Curaleaf was cited for not providing an eye-wash station and proper electrical safeguards for some of its machinery. [Politico]

The Calendar Things

March 2-3 - MoCannBizCon+Expo takes place in St. Louis. Scheduled speakers include Lyndall Fraker, director of medical marijuana at the Missouri Department of Health; Carnahan, Evans, Cantwell & Brown partner Joseph Sheppard III and Armstrong Teasdale partner Eric Teasdale.

March 4 - Harris Bricken attorneys Adams Lee, Griffen Thorne, Nathalie Bougenies and Vince Sliwoski host a webinar, "The International Cannabis Trade."