Marijuana has a complex legal and regulatory history in the United States. Originally widely deployed in a variety of medical and commercial uses, the regulation and eventual restriction of commonly-accepted preparations of hemp and cannabis began at the turn of 20th century with labelling requirements and a push to include cannabis in the definition of a “poison” for which a prescription would be required. By the 1930s a patchwork of state and national policies in law were in place and the criminalization of marijuana was underway in earnest. For the next 40 years any attempt at decriminalization or reclassification was unsuccessful. In the 1970s and 1980s, however, California began to slowly reduce penalties for possession under state law and work toward legalization for compassionate use in chronically-ill individuals, which became legal in the state in 1996.
Since then, the legalization of marijuana has been a matter of legislative interest in many states. This move toward decriminalization at first was limited to the medical use first legitimized in California state law, either for chronically-ill patients or for those suffering from a variety of illnesses for which marijuana has proven to be a desirable treatment in terms of effectiveness and cost. Advocacy in this area has eventually extended to non-medical use; in 2012, Colorado was the first state to legalize recreational use of marijuana for adults.
As of the writing of this post, medical marijuana is legal (to at least some extent) in 23 states plus the District of Columbia; in 8 states medical and non-medical marijuana is legal to sell and possess. As the below selection will show, momentum for decriminalization and handling of emerging legal markets invokes a wide variety of compliance issues which will need to be addresses for business and consumer protections and obligations.
- Given that medical marijuana was the initial purpose behind modern legalization and that it continues to be the most widely-accepted rationale for it, it follows quite logically that medical marijuana research would need to be recognized and facilitated by the law as well. Senator Orrin Hatch, a perhaps unexpected ally for legalization, introduced the Marijuana Effective Drug Study Act of 2017 to improve the research approval process and increase the national marijuana quota to provide supply for medical and scientific research into its potential health benefits. Because marijuana is still completely illegal at the federal level, it is subject to the most restrictive classification and therefore getting approval to study it or supply of it to study is very difficult. In order for the full efficacy of marijuana as medical and therapeutic treatment to be understood, these administrative burdens must be overcome: Senator introduces bill to make it easier to do medical marijuana research
- Due to the fact that, as stated above, marijuana is still totally criminalized at the federal level, and state efforts toward legalization vary widely, regulatory expectations are widespread across a cumbersome patchwork. Businesses hoping to join or exploit the marijuana market in states where it is legalized to some extent will confront a huge regulatory burden of rules, reporting and disclosure obligations, and licensure requirements. It will be crucial for existing or new owners of marijuana-based businesses to consider implementing compliance programs early and thoroughly so that they are not caught unaware by government expectations in their jurisdictions. Otherwise, a culture of operational non-compliance will reign, which could have devastating effect on business success rates amid supervisory enforcement actions for deficiencies: Marijuana Businesses, Particularly In California, Struggle To Navigate A Thicket Of Regulations
- Public sentiment is certainly trending toward legalization. Sixty-four percent of Americans now say that its use should be made legal, which is the highest level of public support that the pollster Gallup has found in the fifty years it has been recording this measure. Certainly high-profile ballot initiatives in a variety of states and increased media attention have come through to the average American and liberalized views on the matter. How will this impact regulatory outlooks? If the federal government comes around to legalization then some universal standard for controls framework and supervisory requirements may be in the future. If not, states will continue to be left to their own devices to create independent markets and risk controls within them: Record-High Support for Legalizing Marijuana Use in U.S.
- As the market for legal weed emerges, powerful people wanting to work within are starting to act like they would in any other industry – looking to garner competitive advantage and turn their companies into giants of the marijuana business. Marijuana is a valuable industry and can be seen as a crop, which means it has an agricultural supply chain like wheat or corn that can be exploited. Utility patents, intellectual property protection for crops, can be used by powerful organizations to corner the market on breeding of new varieties, conducting research, and even producing seeds to be licensed: The Great Pot Monopoly Mystery
- With governments addressing legalization of marijuana all across the United States, organizations are beginning to weigh in too on what their policies of use by their members and employees may be. One visible example of this is with the National Basketball League (NBA) where both the former commissioner David Stern and the current commissioner Adam Silver have expressed at least awareness that the league policies may eventually have to change. While marijuana is still a prohibited substance in the NBA irrespective of the purpose of use, Silver has said he wants to study it and Stern has opined that he feels players should be allowed to do what is legal in their states with respect to marijuana use: David Stern calls for NBA changes of marijuana rules
As states continue to move toward decriminalizing or outright legalization for marijuana for a variety of purposes, and other organizations contend with their own policies within that system, mechanisms for regulated markets will begin to emerge, presenting interesting regulatory compliance issues with no clear and easy precedent. Governments and businesses alike will need to contend with both the opportunities and the challenges this will present.