Law Commons^™

Illegal Contracts And Agreements: A New Standard For Prostitution And Marijuana Agreements, Doug Rendleman

Washington and Lee Law Review

Agreements exchanging sex for money and those involving marijuana may encounter illegality defenses in court. Granting a legal remedy for breach of an agreement that exchanges seriously illegal consideration would lower the court’s public standing and endanger its legitimacy. On the other hand, the spectacle of a buyer claiming its own illegality to escape paying its seller troubles courts.

Lord Mansfield stated the illegality defense in Holman v. Johnson: “No Court will lend its aid to a man who founds his cause of action upon an immoral or an illegal act.” Yet he rejected the illegality defense in that case …

The Use Of Oral Fluid Samples To Test For Driving Under The Influence Of Marijuana, Ian Wise

Georgia Criminal Law Review

Driving Under the Influence of Drugs (DUID) cases pose unique challenges to the criminal justice system. An evidentiary chemical test is a vital piece of evidence in a DUID prosecution because unlike alcohol, drugs do not cause impairment in a uniform fashion. Breath tests cannot detect drugs, and the intrusiveness of blood and urine tests has been the focus of Court cases over the past half-century with decisions in Missouri v. McNeely and Birchfield v. North Dakota curtailing the government’s ability to obtain this evidence without a warrant.

The need for a less intrusive alternative is driven by the doubling …

To Hemp In A Handbasket: The Meaning Of “Controlled Substance” Under The Career Offender Enhancement, Jacob Friedman

Georgia Criminal Law Review

Sentencing enhancements can drastically impact prison sentences for people convicted of federal crimes. The career offender enhancement is particularly harmful to a federal criminal defendant because it automatically raises their minimum offense level and criminal history score under the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, which, although no longer mandatory, are almost always followed by judges in determining actual prison sentences. Since 2016, the career offender enhancement has been applied to almost 8,000 criminal defendants who, at the time of their convictions, had accrued a total of two or more predicate felony convictions, for either a drug offense or a crime of violence …

Legalize For Legal Highs: How Georgia Can Address Racial Disparities In The Criminal Legal System By Legalizing Recreational Cannabis, Nneka Ewulonu

Georgia Criminal Law Review

Cannabis prohibition is a policy failure that nevertheless continues to impact more than half of Americans, including Georgians. Remaining true to its roots in racism and xenophobia, cannabis criminalization has disparate impacts, with Black Americans being more likely to be arrested or incarcerated for a cannabis related offense. Furthermore, cannabis criminalization results in tens of millions of missed tax dollars for the state. This article argues for a clear policy solution; it is time for Georgia to legalize cannabis. As demonstrated by the 21 states that have legalized recreational cannabis as of Fall 2022, legalizing recreational cannabis creates both economic …

Criminality And Inequity Under Canada's Legalization Of Cannabis: A Study Of Vancouver's Downtown Eastside, Stephanie Lake, Margot Young

All Faculty Publications

The origin of this essay reminds us of the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration to the development and assessment of public policy. It also demonstrates the serendipitous beginnings of many interesting inquiries. This collaboration was thus fortuitous: authors Lake and Young met during Lake’s doctoral dissertation defence. Young was on the examining committee. Lake presented a series of epidemiological studies (three of which are summarized below) involving the use of cannabis for therapeutic and harm reduction purposes among marginalized people who use drugs (PWUD) in Vancouver. Young’s lines of questioning involving the legal implications of Lake’s findings spurred the idea to …

High Time For Change: The Legalization Of Marijuana And Its Impact On Warrantless Roadside Motor Vehicle Searches, Molly E. O'Connell

Washington and Lee Law Review Online

The proliferation of marijuana legalization has changed the relationship between driving and marijuana use. While impaired driving remains illegal, marijuana use that does not result in impairment is not a bar to operating a motor vehicle. Scientists have yet to find a reliable way for law enforcement officers to make this distinction. In the marijuana impairment context, there is not a scientifically proven equivalent to the Blood Alcohol Content standard nor are there reliable roadside assessments. This scientific and technological void has problematic consequences for marijuana users that get behind the wheel and find themselves suspected of impaired driving. Without …

"Serving Time And It's No Longer A Crime: An Analysis Of The Proposed Cannabis Administration And Opportunity Act, Its Potential Effects At The Federal And State Level, And A Guide For Practical Application By Local Government", R. Allyce Bailey

University of the District of Columbia Law Review

There has been much recent discussion surrounding cannabis use with some researchers supporting the use of medical marijuana, some investors relishing in the recently booming cannabis and CBD industry, and some states decriminalizing marijuana and even harsh controlled substances. As it appears, at least some public opinion is changing regarding marijuana, but the law has not effectively caught up to that change. Bias in the criminal justice system has led to the over-policing of, higher conviction rates, and harsher sentences for minorities. Thus, the decriminalization of marijuana alone does not remedy the grave disproportionate negative effects on populations of color …

Taking It To The Bank: The Need For A Federal Legislative Safe Harbor For Financial Institutions Offering Services To State-Legal Marijuana-Related Businesses, Andrew Bloomfield

Journal of Civil Rights and Economic Development

(Excerpt)

Imagine that you are a small business owner. Rather than opening a new coffee shop, craft brewery, or chic clothing store, you decide to enter one of the fastest-growing industries in the country: marijuana (also referred to herein as “cannabis”). Your state, Washington, has recently legalized recreational use of marijuana, and your new marijuana-related business (MRB), Plantworks, has joined thousands of other licensed producers to supply the new growing market.

You and your business partner lease 2,500 square feet of industrial workspace in Seattle’s North End and produce several pounds of high-quality “craft” cannabis for distribution to local dispensaries. …

Reconceptualizing Cannabis, Julia Peoples

Honors Theses

Inflammatory rhetoric and increasingly punitive drug policies dominated marijuana politics in the past. Today, as 36 have legalized cannabis in some form and 17 states have legalized recreational marijuana, the federal government continues to perpetuate policies of the past. The following analysis investigates rhetoric and policies that led to the War on Drugs as well as their outcomes, the dramatic shift in public opinion as states began to legalize marijuana, and the successes and failures of state cannabis programs to identify gaps within the MORE Act, the ideal policy, and politically viable incremental change. State programs are incapable of …

Erasing Evidence Of Historic Injustice: The Cannabis Criminal Records Expungement Paradox, Julie E. Steiner

Faculty Scholarship

Cannabis prohibition and its subsequent enforcement have yielded an epic societal tragedy. The decision to criminalize cannabis was a paradigm-shifting moment in legal history because it converted lawful medicinal or intoxicant seeking conduct into criminal activity, inviting government intrusion into matters previously self-controlled.

Scholars increasingly recognize that prohibition was built upon a decades-long, false, media-driven narrative that “marijuana” was one of society’s worst menacing enemies. Using overtly racist propaganda, the narrative successfully captured the audience, fomenting public anxiety and unfairly demonizing cannabis and its users. This misinformation campaign ultimately led to its current status as prohibited under the federal Controlled …

The California Cannabis Industry: The Complexities Since Recreational Legalization, Talia Lux

The Journal of Business, Entrepreneurship & the Law

This comment will first provide a look into the history and legality of cannabis in the United States, followed by a look into California’s cannabis industry. There will be a discussion on both medical and recreational legality in California and the provisions surrounding both types of legality. Next, the complexities of the cannabis industries will be discussed in terms of opening and operating a cannabis business, the different cannabis business types and the requirements for starting them, and state and local limitations. Immediately following, there will be a federal illegality discussion and how federal illegality conflicts with California law in …

A Phenomenological Qualitative Study To Discover The Attitudes And Perceptions Of Police Officers On The Legalization Of Recreational Cannabis And Crime, Izedomi Ayeni

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this phenomenological qualitative study was to discover the attitudes and perceptions of police officers on the legalization of recreational cannabis and crime.

Methodology: This qualitative, phenomenological methodology employed the use of semi-structured interview questions consisting of open-ended questions to understand the lived experiences of Colorado Police and Sheriff Officers and their perspectives on the experiences with the legalization of cannabis and crime. The sample size of 16 officers was selected from the sampling frame, which included Denver Police officers and Larimer County Sheriff officers.

Findings: Analysis of the data from interviews resulted in the identification of …

Tiptoeing Through The Landmines: The Evolution Of States' Legal Ethics Authority Regarding Representing Cannabis Clients, Karen Boxx

Articles

No abstract provided.

"Hash"Ing Out Inequality In The Legal Recreational Cannabis Industry, Maya Rahwanji

Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business

No abstract provided.

A Higher Authority: Canada’S Cannabis Legalization In The Context Of International Law, Antonia Eliason, Robert Howse

Michigan Journal of International Law

Part I of this Article provides an overview of some of the key terms and provisions of Canada’s Cannabis Act. Part II looks at the Cannabis Act in the context of the International Drug Conventions, examining how the various convention provisions might apply, looking first at the Single Convention and then at the 1988 Convention and how that convention fits with Canadian constitutional provisions. Part III focuses on the international human rights framework and how the Cannabis Act might be viewed as compatible with international human rights law even where incompatible with the International Drug Conventions. This Part also offers …

Ethical Cannabis Lawyering In California, Francis J. Mootz Iii

St. Mary's Journal on Legal Malpractice & Ethics

Cannabis has a long history in the United States. Originally, doctors and pharmacists used cannabis for a variety of purposes. After the Mexican Revolution led to widespread migration from Mexico to the United States, many Americans responded by associating this influx of foreigners with the use of cannabis, and thereby racializing and stigmatizing the drug. After the collapse of prohibition, the federal government repurposed its enormous enforcement bureaucracy to address the perceived problem of cannabis, despite the opposition of the American Medical Association to this new prohibition. Ultimately, both the states and the federal government classified cannabis as a dangerous …

Plata O Plomo: Effect Of Mexican Transnational Criminal Organizations On The American Criminal Justice System, Mark M. Mcpherson

St. Mary's Law Journal

Abstract forthcoming

A Call To Higher Action: Cannabis Prohibition In The United States And Canada Makes For An Uncertain Future, Carlos Alvarez

University of Miami International and Comparative Law Review

No abstract provided.

Potholes: Dui Law In The Budding Marijuana Industry, Zack G. Goldberg

Brooklyn Law Review

The rapid legalization of marijuana across the United States has produced a number of novel legal issues. One of the most confounding issues is that presented by the marijuana-impaired driver. In jurisdictions that have legalized the use of marijuana, how high is too high to get behind the wheel? This note assesses the various marijuana DUI laws that states have implemented to combat marijuana-impaired driving. Many of these statutes have followed in the footsteps of the BAC-based standard used to combat drunk driving—using THC measurements to quantify a driver’s level of marijuana-based impairment. Unfortunately, unlike alcohol, the scientific properties of …

Investing In Cannabis: Inconsistent Government Regulation And Constraints On Capital, Adrian A. Ohmer

Michigan Business & Entrepreneurial Law Review

This note’s focus is on the future of investing in the growing legalized cannabis industry. In Part II, it will provide a brief history of federal and state regulation of cannabis. Part III will discuss the current role of the federal government in regulating the cannabis industry. Part IV will explore the current avenues of access to capital for the cannabis industry. Lastly, Part V will provide suggestions for the federal government and state governments to reduce investment risk that exists in the cannabis industry.

Canada's Marihuana Medical Access Regulations: Up In Smoke, Carolynn Conron

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The Supreme Court of Canada has interpreted the constitutional principles entrenched in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms to mean that everyone in Canada has a constitutional right to access necessary medical treatment without fear of criminal sanction. The latest research suggests cannabis (marihuana) provides a unique medicinal benefit that, for some individuals, is necessary. The federal criminal prohibition of cannabis deprives many individuals of a potentially beneficial medicine and stigmatizes them with a criminal record.

Without a valid medical cannabis access system, the criminal prohibition is invalid. The current Marihuana Medical Access Regulations were recently struck down. Parliament …

A Critical Appraisal Of The Department Of Justice's New Approach To Medical Marijuana, Robert A. Mikos

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

The Obama Administration has embarked upon a much-heralded shift in federal policy toward medical marijuana. Eschewing the hard-ball tactics favored by earlier Administrations, Attorney General Eric Holder announced in October 2009 that the Department of Justice (DOJ) would stop enforcing the federal marijuana ban against persons who comply with state medical marijuana laws. Given the significance of the medical marijuana issue in both criminal law and federalism circles, this Article sets out to provide the first in-depth analysis of the changes wrought by the DOJ’s new Non Enforcement Policy (NEP). In a nutshell, it suggests that early enthusiasm for the …

Indictment And Information - Requirement Of Specificity In Charging A Statutory Offense, Ward P. Allen

Michigan Law Review

On an information charging the possession of "a certain habit forming drug, to wit: Marijuana . . . in violation of section 158, Chapter 91, Illinois Revised Statutes (1935)," defendant was convicted in the municipal court of Chicago. The Illinois adoption of the Uniform Narcotic Drug Act made the possession of "any narcotic drug" unlawful; defined "narcotic drugs" to include "cannabis"; and stated that "Cannabis includes the following substances, under whatever names they may be designated: (a) The dried flowering or fruiting tops of the pistillate plant Cannabis Sativa L.," from which the resin has not been extracted; (b) the …