Marijuana law in the age of the green rush

The rise of marijuana lawyers or the practice of cannabis law expands across the US, as the American green rush grows.

As states slowly begin to pass laws and decriminalize marijuana use; others fight cannabis law and related cases.

With grow houses popping up in states that have passed different laws in regards to marijuana use, the regulation of it gets trickier. A debate that continues to come from communities of color are the disproportionate white-owned dispensaries established throughout the country while a disproportionate number of blacks and Latinos remain in jail from evictions around cannabis.

Lawyers who focus on marijuana laws and legal issues around cannabis must expand with the changing laws.

“Marijuana law, like entertainment law, is an amalgamation of other practice areas, including business law, administrative law, intellectual property, criminal law, employment law and tax law,” explained lawyer Neil Juneja.

For cannabis growers who lost their harvests in the recent California wildfires in Mendicino and Sonoma Valleys, they look towards the law to assist in their recovery. Since growers could not get insurance because crops are federally illegal; though legal in California, they must fight for some type of compensation in their loss.

Hybrid Strains of New Attorneys

Some institutions work to ensure that the new crop of lawyers understand how to handle cannabis casses. At law schools such as Vanderbilt University and University of Washington, classes or programs focusing on marijuana law have been implemented.

In Colorado where the cannabis industry is booming, the University of Denver Sturm College of Law offers classes on representing clients in cases regarding marijuana.