The Supreme Court sought input from the Department of Justice on a case out of Minnesota about employers covering medical marijuana expenses.
The U.S. Supreme Court is considering ruling on a pair of cases out of Minnesota where workers are seeking compensation for medical cannabis from their employers after being injured on the job.
Minnesota’s state Supreme Court ruled against the plaintiffs in both cases, saying that their employers were not obligated to pay for their treatment.
After being petitioned to take up the case, the U.S. Supreme Court sought input from the top Justice Department lawyer. The DOJ responded this week.
“The petitions in these cases, which present a novel question in a rapidly evolving area of law, do not warrant this Court’s review,” the DOJ said, according to Marijuana Moment, adding that “when a federal law such as the CSA prohibits possession of a particular item, it preempts a state law requiring a private party to subsidize the purchase of that item.”
“The decisions below, however, rest on a more complex rationale that unnecessarily explores the scope of federal aiding-and-abetting liability outside the context of any federal prosecution.”
The DOJ wants the states to decide this issue. The Supreme Court hasn’t responded to the DOJ’s recommendation yet.
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Arizona Reports Record Cannabis Sales
Arizona had its best month of recreational cannabis sales ever in March even as medical marijuana sales fell for the fifth consecutive month in the state.
Arizona reported total March sales of $121.8 million. That total is down slightly from the revised February sales estimates of $123.8 million, according to the Arizona Department of Revenue.
Recreational sales have been steadily rising in the state since March, when monthly sales were around $60 million,
March medical marijuana sales fell to $49.4 million, marking the first time medical sales failed to reach at least $50 million since recreational sales began in January 2021.
Medical sales peaked in March last year at nearly $73 million.
Meanwhile, recreational cannabis sales totaled $72.3 million in March, a record for cannabis that nearly matched medical’s March 2021 peak of $73 million.
Arizona’s cannabis tax revenue in March totaled more than the state’s tobacco and liquor taxes combined, the Joint Legislative Budget Committee reported, according to the Arizona Mirror.
Tobacco taxes brought in $1.7 million and liquor taxes brought in $3.7 million in the month. Meanwhile, cannabis taxes brought in $6.3 million.
Equity Provisions Holding Up SAFE Act
The Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Act has been in the legislative process for some time now.
The U.S. House of Representatives have passed some form of the SAFE Act at least six times, but each time the bill has languished in the Senate.
Last week, over 20 Senators signed onto a letter to Congressional leaders urging them to attach the SAFE Act to a large-scale manufacturing bill that will almost certainly pass the legislative process.
However, even that letter was missing the signature of liberal Senators Edward Markey and Elizabeth Warren, both of Massachusetts, a state with legalized recreational cannabis sales.
So why are the pair holding off their support? The bill as currently constructed doesn’t address the lack of equity in the cannabis industry and fails to address the impact the “war on drugs” has had on less affluent communities, according to Worcester Magazine.
“If the SAFE Banking bill really did what its supporters claim, it would be a great incremental step forward for the cannabis industry. Unfortunately, those claims aren’t facts. The only concrete thing the bill does is help banks,” Shaleen Title, former Cannabis Control Commissioner and an outspoken critic of the SAFE Act said recently, according to WM.
“Choosing to help the banking industry and hoping and dreaming they’ll decide to protect small businesses is not the sensible step forward the banking lobbyists would like you to think.”
