Walter (Chad) Blackham

Could this be setting the stage for national legalization? In Northeast Patients Group, et al. v. United Cannabis Patients and Caregivers of Maine, a split panel for the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit affirmed a district court’s decision…

On Wednesday, May 25, 2022, Rhode Island became the nineteenth state to legalize adult-use cannabis. Democrat Governor Daniel J. McKee signed into law S.B. 2430 and companion act H.B. 7593, or the Rhode Island Cannabis Act, after both bills were approved by…

On April 11, 2022, New Jersey’s Cannabis Regulatory Commission (CRC) voted to approve the state’s first adult-use cannabis sales to the general public. In doing so, the CRC granted regulatory approval to seven companies currently operating thirteen medical marijuana dispensaries to commence…

In December the Ohio Senate passed Senate Bill 261, potentially broadening Ohio’s Medical Marijuana Control Program for the first time since implementation in 2018. SB 261 would create the new Division of Marijuana Control (DMC), a division of the Department of Commerce,…

Recent bills and ballot initiatives suggest that adult-use cannabis may be coming to Ohio in the near future.  However, with the State currently considering two separate paths towards legalization, the key question now seems just as much how as when. The first…

On January 16, 2019, Ohio’s Medical Marijuana Control Program formally launched with the official opening of the first dispensaries in Wintersville, Canton, and Sandusky. Years in the making, Ohio’s program provides alternative medical treatment to qualifying patients but also raises serious questions…

Ohio lawmakers are set to consider a bill that would legalize adult, or recreational, cannabis use in the Buckeye state. State Representative Casey Weinstein (D) and co-sponsor Rep. Terrence Upchurch (D) announced their intention to introduce the bill late last week. The…

On March 30, 2021, Governor Andrew Cuomo signed Senate Bill 854-A, the “Marihuana Regulation and Taxation Act,” making New York the 15th state to legalize recreational cannabis use. Under the Act, New Yorkers will be allowed to possess three ounces of cannabis…

While cannabis legalization is now a bipartisan issue and enjoys a majority of support in both parties, the issue has historically been framed as a Democrat policy. And now, with a Democratic President, House, and Senate, many observers are asking, “what’s next…

Earlier today, The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill decriminalizing cannabis at the national level and implementing a sales tax on cannabis products sold throughout the U.S. The Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act, otherwise known as the MORE Act, was…