A leading marijuana consumer advocacy organization is urging a federal appeals court to reconsider its ruling that cannabis industry contracts are not enforceable as long as federal prohibition remains in effect.
Last month, a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit overturned a $31.8 million jury award that Michigan marijuana cultivation company Hello Farms won against subsidiaries of Curaleaf Holdings, Inc., finding that “despite the legalization of marijuana in Michigan, federal courts cannot enforce agreements to commit federal crimes.”
Now, the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) is urging the appeals court to take another look at the dispute and is moving to file an amicus brief in the case.
“NORML brings a distinct consumer perspective to this commercial dispute,” the group said in a motion seeking permission to file the friend of the court brief. “The panel’s categorical reliance on federal illegality to foreclose civil remedies threatens commercial accountability in lawful state-regulated cannabis markets and, ultimately, the medical patients and adult-use consumers those markets serve.”
The amicus brief itself, which NORML also sent to the court, argues that the court neglected to consider broader public interests in the outcome of the case.
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