Several leading marijuana businesses and stakeholders are banding together to sue the federal government over what they believe to be unconstitutional policies impeding their operations, according to the CEO of one of the companies. And, he says, they’ve retained a prominent law firm led by an attorney who has been involved in numerous high-profile federal cases.
One lawsuit will take aim at the federal ban on intrastate marijuana commerce and contest the constitutionality of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) under a unique interpretation of the Commerce Clause of the Constitution. In part, the plaintiffs will make the case that prior court rulings on the federal government’s authority over intrastate commerce, particularly concerning fungibility, should not apply to marijuana companies in highly regulated state-legal markets…..
The second lawsuit that’s in the works will make similar arguments but focus on an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) code known as 280E, which precludes cannabis businesses from claiming federal tax deductions because, under the CSA, they are trafficking in a controlled substance.”
Law Office of Dale Schafer 