Food and Drug Law Commons^™

Learning From South Korea’S Covid-19 Response: Why Centralizing The United States Public Health System Is Essential For Future Pandemic Responses, Meghan Ricci

Seattle Journal of Technology, Environmental, & Innovation Law

The COVID-19 pandemic revealed stark differences in governmental preparedness across the globe. The United States, once thought of as a global leader in public health, had the theoretical skill and efficiency to handle the pandemic but failed to utilize those skills and resources during an actual health crisis. In the spring of 2020, everyone watched the U.S.’s reaction to the unfolding of the COVID-19 pandemic due to its historic placeholder as a global leader and innovator. However, the performance of the U.S. in response to the global pandemic disappointed both global commentators and U.S. citizens. This paper will compare the …

A Hot Topic: Is The Fda’S Approach To Sunscreen Regulation Failing Consumers?, Haley Westman

Seattle University Law Review

This Note suggests a better balance between allowing sunscreen innovation and protecting the public from unsafe products. Part I of this Note will review the factual background of the public’s attention to sunscreen, explain the current sunscreen issues in the news, and highlight the different actors involved in the growing discourse surrounding sunscreen. Part I will also show that the actors involved in the sunscreen industry—scientific researchers, social media influencers, and the public at large—have considerable influence on consumers’ trust in sunscreen, their buying habits, and the FDA’s approach to sunscreen regulation. Part II of this Note will outline the …

Cannabis Receiverships: The Alternative For State Legal Cannabis Businesses Seeking Financial Rehabilitation Locked Out Of Bankruptcy Court By The Controlled Substances Act, Ryan C. Griffith

Seattle University Law Review

This article explores how cannabis businesses suffer by being unable to utilize federal bankruptcy and explore state law receiverships as an alternative remedy to help cannabis businesses weather financial storms.

Part I explores the limitations and differences between a receivership and a bankruptcy. Part II discusses how state legal cannabis companies cannot seek financial rehabilitation in bankruptcy court due to cannabis being listed as a schedule I drug federally. Part III explores how receivership be used to help cannabis companies that cannot seek bankruptcy protection to financially rehabilitate themselves. Part IV details how a receiver can help a cannabis company …

Table Of Contents

Seattle University Law Review

Table of Contents

Table Of Contents, Seattle University Law Review

Seattle University Law Review

Table of Contents

The Spirit Is Willing: A Proposal For American Single Malt Whiskey, Raymond Cleaveland

Seattle University Law Review

Over the past twenty-five years, small, independent American distilleries have carved out a new niche in the United States liquor market: craft single malt whiskey. Inspired by the success of single malt Scotch and other single malts, American craft distillers are now fighting for their own shelf behind the bar and in the liquor store aisle. In 2018, a cadre of these distillers petitioned the U.S. Treasury Department’s Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau to formally recognize a new category of whiskey in the Code of Federal Regulations: American Single Malt Whiskey. For purposes of consumer protection, the Treasury …

The Future Of The Agricultural Industry – Is Blockchain A New Beginning?, Ryan Bisel

Seattle University Law Review

As we advance into a digital era, we begin to depend on technological innovations to rapidly help develop and update processes and methods within different industries. Blockchain technology—popularized by cryptocurrency—is slowly making its debut in the agricultural supply chain. Implementing a blockchain requirement for suppliers would be beneficial because it would allow agricultural suppliers and distributors to track their products in a more efficient manner. However, there are four potential legal issues that are foreseeable: (1) preemption, (2) overlapping regulatory authority, (3) applying current legal rules to new technology, and (4) contracting. This Note will specifically focus on issues of …

American Edibles: How Cannabis Regulatory Policy Rehashes Prohibitionist Fears And What To Do About It, Connor Burns, Jay Wexler

Seattle University Law Review

Why can’t we buy a cannabis muffin with our morning coffee? For much of the past century, the answer was simple: cannabis was illegal. Now, however, with more and more states legalizing cannabis for adult use, the answer is far less clear. Even in those states that have legalized cannabis, the simple action of buying and eating edibles at the same location has somehow remained a pipe dream despite consumer demand. Digging a little deeper, we can see how contemporary alarmism—by rehashing the same prohibitionist rhetoric demonizing cannabis for over eighty years—has once again arisen with a new target: cannabis-infused …

Big Pharma, Big Problems: Covid-19 Heightens Patent-Antitrust Tension Caused By Reverse Payments, Hannah M. Lasting

Seattle University Law Review

In the wake of COVID-19, pharmaceutical companies rushed to produce vaccinations and continue to work on developing treatments, while the tension caused by reverse payments intensifies between patent and antitrust law. Lawmakers must address this tension, and the current pandemic should serve as a catalyst to prompt reform at the legislative level. By amending the Hatch-Waxman Act, lawmakers can ease the increasing strain between patent and antitrust policy concerns. In 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court attempted to resolve this tension in its landmark decision, F.T.C. v. Actavis, but the tension remains as lower courts struggle to produce a uniform standard …

Table Of Contents, Seattle University Law Review

Seattle University Law Review

Table of Contents and Special Thanks.

Table Of Contents, Seattle University Law Review

Seattle University Law Review

Table of Contents

Enough Is As Good As A Feast, Noah C. Chauvin

Seattle University Law Review

Ipse Dixit, the podcast on legal scholarship, provides a valuable service to the legal community and particularly to the legal academy. The podcast’s hosts skillfully interview guests about their legal and law-related scholarship, helping those guests communicate their ideas clearly and concisely. In this review essay, I argue that Ipse Dixit has made a major contribution to legal scholarship by demonstrating in its interview episodes that law review articles are neither the only nor the best way of communicating scholarly ideas. This contribution should be considered “scholarship,” because one of the primary goals of scholarship is to communicate new ideas.

Washington Cannabusiness: Washington’S Durational Residency Requirement Should Be Eliminated On Economic, Social, And Constitutional Grounds, Alejandro Monarrez

Seattle University Law Review Online

No abstract provided.

Table Of Contents, Seattle University Law Review

Seattle University Law Review

Table of Contents

Recalibrating Suspicion In An Era Of Hazy Legality, Deborah Ahrens

Seattle University Law Review

After a century of employing varying levels of prohibition enforced by criminal law, the United States has entered an era where individual states are rethinking marijuana policy, and the majority of states have in some way decided to make cannabis legally available. This symposium Article will offer a description of what has happened in the past few years, as well as ideas for how jurisdictions can use the changing legal status of cannabis to reshape criminal procedure more broadly. This Article will recommend that law enforcement no longer be permitted use the smell of marijuana as a reason to search …

Marijuana Law Reform In 2020 And Beyond: Where We Are And Where We’Re Going, Sam Kamin

Seattle University Law Review

With another presidential election now looming on the horizon, both political parties and both sides of the marijuana law reform debate are once again preparing for the possibility of a seismic change in how marijuana is regulated in the United States. In this Article, I lay out the state of marijuana law and policy in the United States today with an eye toward that uncertain future. I describe the differential treatment of marijuana under state and federal law and the tensions this causes for those seeking to take advantage of marijuana law reform in the states. I analyze recent changes …

A Commitment To The Whole Athlete: Embracing The Role Of Cannabinoids In Collegiate Athletics, Kelli Rodriguez Currie

Seattle University Law Review

Cannabinoids can be a highly effective way for athletes to combat various kinds of pain associated with intense training. Derivatives of cannabis, such as marijuana, have been used for centuries as a form of pain relief. Part I of this Article discusses how cannabinoids are used in sports medicine. Part II discusses the different approaches to marijuana and cannabidiol use across sports leagues. Part III highlights the inconsistencies between the NCAA’s approach to testing for substance abuse and its investment in student-athletes’ well-being. Part IV discusses how the NCAA must focus on student-athlete health. Finally, Part V concludes that the …

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

Seattle University Law Review

Despite the continued federal classification of cannabis as an illegal drug, states have legalized the possession, use, production, and sale of cannabis. In order to do so, the states have created complex regulatory schemes to control and monitor the cannabis industry and satisfy the federal government concerns, such as use by minors and organized crime involvement. First, this Article presents the ethical dilemma of cannabis lawyering. Second, this Article describes the history, evolution, and current status of the various states’ pronouncements on a lawyer’s ethical duties with respect to the business and use of cannabis that may be legal under …

Say “No” To Discrimination, “Yes” To Accommodation: Why States Should Prohibit Discrimination Of Workers Who Use Cannabis For Medical Purposes, Anne Marie Lofaso, Lakyn D. Cecil

Seattle University Law Review

This Article addresses the question of how the law should treat medical cannabis in the employment context. Using Colorado as a primary example, we argue that states such as Colorado should amend their constitutions and legislate to provide employment protections for employees who are registered medical cannabis cardholders or registered caregivers.

Part I briefly traces the legal regulation of cannabis from an unregulated medicine known as cannabis to a highly regulated illicit substance known as marijuana under the Controlled Substances Act. Our travail through this history reveals, unsurprisingly, an increasing demonization of cannabis throughout the twentieth century. That socio-legal demonization …

Table Of Contents, Seattle University Law Review

Seattle University Law Review

Table of Contents

In Memory Of Professor James E. Bond, Janet Ainsworth

Seattle University Law Review

Janet Ainsworth, Professor of Law at Seattle University School of Law: In Memory of Professor James E. Bond.

Green Means Go: Tribes Rush To Regulate Cannabis In Indian Country, Julie Kim, Jessica Roberts

American Indian Law Journal

During the Obama administration, the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) issued a series of memos stating that the federal government would not interfere with state laws legalizing cannabis. The United States Attorney General later expressly extended this policy to Indian Country. As a result, tribes began debating potential advantages and disadvantages of participating in the cannabis market. Then, in January 2018, the DOJ rescinded the memos and publicly recommitted itself to prosecuting the possession, cultivation, and distribution of marijuana. Consequently, tribes should approach “The Green Rush” as an exercise of their sovereignty; when a tribe decides to legalize or …

Table Of Contents, Seattle University Law Review

Seattle University Law Review

No abstract provided.

How Chevron Deference Is Inappropriate In U.S. Fishery Management And Conservation, Charles T. Jordan

Seattle Journal of Environmental Law

Well managed fisheries represent an excellent source of sustainable food making the management of which incredibly important. The management of fisheries in the United States is governed by The Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSFCMA). While the Act creates strong goals and mandates to ensure the best management of fisheries as an important natural resource, there are issues of delegation within the act. The MSFCMA ultimately delegates authority to eight regional councils which are made up of unelected and un-appointed members. The membership of these councils is at risk of industry influence with little legal protections. Critical in how …

Table Of Contents, Seattle University Law Review

Seattle University Law Review

No abstract provided.

A Prescription For Biopharmaceutical Patents: A Cure For Inter Partes Review Ailments, Alex A. Jurisch

Seattle University Law Review

The patent system in the United States was forever changed with the introduction of the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (AIA) in September of 2011. The AIA brought sweeping changes to American patent law in order to align the U.S. with much of the rest of the world by changing the invention priority from a “first to invent” to a “first to file” system. The first section of this note will provide a brief overview of the substance of inter partes reviews and some of the most critical negatives that have become apparent since 2013. The second section of this Note …

The Gm Food Debate: An Evaluation Of The National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard And Recommendations For The United States Based On Food Justice, Courtnee Grego

Seattle University Law Review

This Note aims to identify the food justice issues caused by the National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard (NBFDS) and make recommendations for the United States to minimize these concerns. The NBFDS requires the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to draft regulations establishing a mandatory disclosure standard for GM food and ultimately, will require a disclosure on the package of any GM food sold in the United States. Part I of the Note provides an overview of the genetically modified (GM) food debate. Part II reviews the NBFDS. Part III explains the food justice implications of GM food production. Part …

The Gm Food Debate: An Evaluation Of The Nationalbioengineered Food Disclosure Standard Andrecommendations For The United States Based On Foodjustice, Courtnee Grego

Seattle University Law Review

This Note aims to identify the food justice issues caused by the National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard (NBFDS) and make recommendations for the United States to minimize these concerns. The NBFDS requires the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to draft regulations establishing a mandatory disclosure standard for GM food and ultimately, will require a disclosure on the package of any GM food sold in the United States. Part I of the Note provides an overview of the genetically modified (GM) food debate. Part II reviews the NBFDS. Part III explains the food justice implications of GM food production. Part …

How Commonsense Consumption Acts Are Preventing “Big Food” Litigation, Grace Thompson

Seattle University Law Review

This Note takes a critical look at Commonsense Consumption Acts and how they are detrimental to the possibility of “Big Food” litigation. The tobacco industry was held accountable through the effective use of tort litigation (commonly referred to as “Big Tobacco” litigation), and the food industry could theoretically be held similarly accountable, but CCAs are preventing the possibility of similar reform. Therefore, in order for health reform to be as effective as tobacco reform, CCAs must be repealed in the states where they exist. Part I of this Note discusses why the food industry needs tort reform. Specifically, it argues …

Salmon With A Side Of Genetic Modification: The Fda’S Approval Of Aquadvantage Salmon And Why The Precautionary Principle Is Essential For Biotechnology Regulation, Kara M. Van Slyck

Seattle University Law Review

This Note seeks to address the issues concerning the FDA’s approval of genetically modified salmon for consumption, arguing that the FDA did not properly vet AquAdvantage salmon, as well as relied on inappropriate criteria in their approval of its market use. Part I provides a brief history of AquAdvantage salmon’s introduction to U.S. markets and the legal actions taken in response to the FDA ruling. Part II discusses the statutes and regulations fundamentally relevant to GE products, as well as a critique of the way each regulation was used to approve AquAdvantage. Part III offers a comparison to the European …