The American Lawyer Publishes Article On How It Thinks Sessions Latest Memo Will Affect Cannabis Practices & Practitioners

Here’s a little more of what the American Lawyer thinks.

For what it’s worth, here at CLR, we don’t see any cannabis practices saying or hinting at a retreat from the business. Like all the other players in the sector, the investments have been made. It looks as though Sessions little helpers will be having to drag a lot of people through Federal Courts. Does he even have the budget for this sort of behaviour. We suspect not

 

The American lawyer writes

Potential Circumstances

Still, Thursday’s news highlights the uncertainly marijuana lawyers have grappled with since President Donald Trump took office and made Sessions his attorney general. It’s possible that for some lawyers, the new guidance could make for second thoughts about their role in the budding industry.

“Sessions threw a nuclear bomb into medical marijuana and recreational marijuana today,” Sacks said. “It’s going to be up to the lawyers to make up their decisions on what to do, but they are violating federal law.”

Historically, said Brian Vicente, founding partner of cannabis law firm Vicente Sederberg in Colorado, lawyers haven’t faced criminal prosecution or even state ethics implications for simply giving advice on marijuana issues, as long as they make federal law clear to clients.

But one California lawyer was charged last year in relation to her client’s activities. Prosecutors in San Diego County have accused Jessica McElfresh of conspiring with a client to hide evidence of an illegal hash oil operation.

Still, lawyer ethics are not under federal jurisdiction, Shabnam Malek, partner at Brand & Branch and president of the National Cannabis Bar Association, noted. And lawyers with established practices are used to “living in ambiguity and anxiety.”

“Other than some federal prosecution or your client being subject to federal prosecution, my conduct is more or less protected in the state of California,” Malek said. “There’s no reason why what Sessions said should scare me away.”

More at https://www.law.com/americanlawyer/sites/americanlawyer/2018/01/04/cannabis-law-practices-brace-for-impact-of-sessions-memo/

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