Troutman Pepper Cannabis Communications Newsletter — August 21, 2024

Troutman Pepper’s Cannabis Practice helps clients throughout their business cycle enter or expand into the cannabis space. Our team combines the resources of attorneys in areas such as licensing and taxation, regulatory compliance, corporate and transactional, intellectual property, and real estate, among others, to provide comprehensive services.

Our Cannabis Practice provides advice on issues related to applicable federal and state law. Marijuana remains an illegal controlled substance under federal law.

TROUTMAN PEPPER SPOTLIGHT

CANNABIS LAW: Basic Cannabis Concepts

By Jean Smith-Gonnell

Jean Gonnell will join Melissa Roeder from Sinars Slowikowski Tomaska, Brenda Wells from East Carolina University, and Adam Dolan from Gfeller Laurie to discuss the rapid growth of the cannabis and hemp industries in the U.S. This expansion is driven by the increasing number of states permitting businesses to grow, process, and sell cannabis products for medical and adult use.

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CANNABIS REGULATORY UPDATES

State AGs Take Action to Quell Proliferation of Intoxicating Hemp Products

By Jean Smith-Gonnell, Chris Carlson, and Nick Ramos

Concerns over consumer protection are mounting as the sales of intoxicating hemp products continue to rise. In response to a fragmented regulatory landscape that has led to inconsistent enforcement and compliance challenges, state attorneys general are stepping in to fill the void left by the absence of comprehensive federal regulations. These state-level actions aim to safeguard consumers and stabilize the rapidly growing hemp industry.

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Complying With Information Requests: Utility Makes Novel Proposal to “Snitch” on Suspected Cannabis Growers

By Jean Smith-Gonnell, Mackenzie W.J. Jessup, and Robyn Lin

Last week, the Maine Public Utilities Commission (the commission) heard an unusual pitch: an electric utility proposed to voluntarily report to law enforcement if residential utility usage suggested illegal marijuana grow enterprises — without the law enforcement agency submitting a subpoena or obtaining a warrant. Although the commission ultimately rejected the proposal, the utility cited its high identification success rate and the burden of responding to subpoenas (sometimes as many 50 for a single location), as its motivation for this proposal.

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