Welcome back to Higher Law, our weekly briefing on all things cannabis. I'm Cheryl Miller, reporting for Law.com from Sacramento. Higher Law will be on break next week for Thanksgiving. In case you're interested, here's The Denver Post's annual take on how to turn Turkey Day into Danksgiving.

For this week, we're looking at:

  • a historic cannabis bill on its way to the president.
  • an H1-B visa suit brought by a marijuana software company.
  • the Dormant Commerce Clause and NY's new cannabis guidance.
  • Jones Day and DLA Piper's work on a $57M cannabis investment.

Thanks as always for reading Higher Law. Got a story idea? Something else you'd like to see in the newsletter? Drop me a line at [email protected]. You can call me at 916.448.2935. Follow me on Twitter: @capitalaccounts.

Sen. Chuck Schumer. Photo: Diego M. Radzinschi/ALM

Senate Sends Biden Historic Cannabis Research Bill 

Congress made history Wednesday by sending President Biden the Medical Marijuana and Cannabidiol Research Expansion Act, a bill aimed at easing restrictions on studies of cannabis.

The Senate vote, which followed the House of Representatives' passage of the bill in July, marks the first time Congress has sent a non-budget-related, standalone marijuana bill to the president.