Disorder in the Courts
Calif., Ill., Maine, and Minn. – Courtroom drama playing out in four states could have widespread ramifications for the industry as a whole. At issue in Northeast Patients Group et al. v. Figueroa is whether states can regulate the cannabis industry in ways that would violate the Constitution’s dormant commerce clause were the rules applied to any other industry. Maine argues it can prohibit licensure of nonresidents because the clause, which mandates states not interfere with interstate commerce, is moot when applied to a sector that can’t engage in interstate commerce in the first place. The case, before the First Circuit Court of Appeals, is expected to set precedent for whether residency rules may be enforced. In Illinois, Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company has leveled intellectual-property infringement charges against Terphogz LLC, claiming the cannabis brand’s Zkittlez product and marketing campaign represent a willful misappropriation of Wrigley’s Skittles trademark. Terphogz twice tr...