Cannabis Law

Experienced Cannabis Law Attorneys Providing Representation in a Variety of Areas of Law

With the legalization (and decriminalization) of medical and recreational cannabis in the majority of states, the cannabis industry is a rapidly growing field of law and presents an economic opportunity for many. Due to the range of legal issues associated with this developing field, cannabis law encompasses many different areas of legal expertise. Here at Brown, Paindiris & Scott, we can help you with all of your cannabis law needs.

Adult-Use (Recreational) Cannabis

On June 22, 2021, Governor Ned Lamont signed into law legislation that legalizes the adult-use of cannabis in Connecticut, the “Responsible and Equitable Regulation of Adult-Use Cannabis Act” or “RERACA”. Retail sales of cannabis aim to begin in Connecticut by the end of 2022. RERACA establishes eight new license types (some of which overlap in terms of which activities are permitted thereunder): (1) retailers, (2) hybrid retailers, (3) food and beverage manufacturers, (4) product manufacturers, (5) product packagers, (6) delivery services or transporter, (7) cultivators, and (8) micro-cultivators.

The Medical Marijuana Program and Legislative Updates in Connecticut

In June of 2012, Governor Dannel Malloy signed into law a medical marijuana program for the state of Connecticut. Thereafter, the Department of Consumer Protection created a comprehensive set of rules and regulations governing a state medical marijuana program. In practice, following a certification from a medical doctor or advanced practitioner nurse, a qualifying Connecticut resident can receive a medical marijuana card from the Department of Consumer Protection (“DCP”), which provides the holder (“patient”) with access to one of the nine state licensed marijuana dispensaries. At any dispensary a patient can purchase marijuana in various forms, which are provided to the dispensary by one of the four licensed Connecticut producers of marijuana medicine. Information regarding qualifying conditions and locations of state dispensaries can be found on the DCP website here.

Marijuana remains a Schedule I drug under the federal Controlled Substances Act, meaning that federal authorities believe that marijuana has a high potential for abuse, has no currently accepted medical use in treatment and that there is a lack of accepted safety for its under medical supervision.

Starting a Cannabis Business

The attorneys of Brown, Paindiris & Scott can help you navigate the current industry. With decades of both general business experience and highly specialized medical marijuana business experience, the attorneys of the firm’s Cannabis Law Department have extensive industry experience and have including under the medical marijuana program in Connecticut. If you are interested in capitalizing on the potential economic opportunities available in the legal cannabis industry, Brown, Paindiris & Scott can advise your business for future success.

See our Cannabis Businesses and Cannabis Licenses page for more information on the services we provide.

Discrimination in Employment and Housing

According to Connecticut state law, no employer may refuse to hire a person or may discharge, penalize or threaten an employee solely on the basis of such person’s or employee’s status as a qualifying [medical marijuana] patient or primary caregiver. An employer, however, may prohibit the use of intoxicating substances during work hours or discipline an employee for being intoxicated while at work. Under the Responsible and Equitable Regulation of Adult-Use Cannabis

Act” or “RERACA”, an employer may even adopt a written workplace drug policy that prohibits use of cannabis outside of the workplace ( a new power bestowed upon employers under RERACA). This language is highly important to both employees and employers navigating the Connecticut Medical Marijuana and Adult-Use Cannabis laws. If you believe that you have been wrongly discriminated against in the workplace due to your medical marijuana patient status, or if you are an employer concerned about actual or possible complaints by employees who are medical marijuana patients, please contact us at Brown, Paindiris, & Scott.

Additionally, under the Connecticut medical marijuana program, there are specific regulations relating to tenants who are registered patients. Specifically, the law states that no landlord may refuse to rent a dwelling unit to a person or take action against a tenant solely on the basis of such person’s or tenant’s status as a qualifying patient or primary caregiver. However, a landlord has the legal right to prohibit all forms of smoking and vaporizing within the premises, even if it would prevent a medical patient from smoking medical marijuana they are lawfully taking. A landlord may not, however, prohibit a medical marijuana patient from ingesting medical marijuana through other means (such as edible form).  If you are a landlord and are being wrongly accused of engaging in discriminatory renting or leasing practices, contact our attorneys at Brown, Paindiris and Scott for your defense.

Administrative Law and Professional License Defense

As with many state-regulated businesses, there is bound to be interaction with the administering agency overseeing the business. The Medical Marijuana industry is closely regulated by the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection (“DCP”), as is the adult-use cannabis industry. Medical providers, including those with the ability to proscribe medical marijuana, are licensed by the Department of Public Health (“DPH”), including admission by the Boards of Medical Examiners and Board of Nursing Examiners. Inevitably the medical marijuana industry and those involved with it, patients and medical professionals alike, could face complicated and difficult compliance and licensure issues with these and other state agencies. Let Brown, Paindiris & Scott’s Administrative Law and Licensure Defense team help you with all of your administrative legal needs.

Family Law Issues

With the legalization of medicinal marijuana in Connecticut and the possibility of legalization of recreational marijuana in the future, a number of family law and parenting concerns have arisen. There can be perceptions by one party of a divorce, or social workers associated with the Department of Children of Families (“DCF”) and others that valid medical marijuana patients or lawful adult users are doing something wrong. At Brown, Paindiris & Scott we can help you preserve your rights as a parent and a medical marijuana patient/lawful adult user.

If you are looking for a lawyer to help with family law issues relating to marijuana use, our experienced attorneys here at Brown, Paindiris, & Scott are able to help.

Criminal Defense

State Marijuana laws are changing at a rapid pace and, where marijuana has become legal in some capacity at the state level for 59.3% of Americans according to a November 2016 study of Medical Marijuana Inc. online, found here, marijuana cultivation possession and sale all remain federal criminal offenses, entailing very significant criminal exposures. If you are being investigated for or have been charged by state or federal law enforcement in relation to marijuana, call the highly experienced criminal defense team at Brown, Paindiris & Scott, LLP.

Driving Under the Influence

Current Connecticut law prohibits use of marijuana in any vehicle, whether as a driver or passenger. Moreover, the law in Connecticut criminalizes the operation of any motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol or any intoxicating substance (“DUI”). Often an issue in allegations of DUI involving marijuana is how to adequately prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, what being under the influence of an intoxicating quantity requires and how to prove the same. Current performed by the State Toxicology Laboratory only analyze if marijuana is in the system in any degree, often without providing the prosecution or defense the quantity or concentration of the marijuana. Because THC, a component of marijuana, is stored in fat cells, it can remain in the system for long periods of time. This makes it hard to determine whether the marijuana in the system was administered 30 days or 30 minutes prior, and relatedly, whether there was an intoxicating level of marijuana in the defendant’s system at the time of operation. This divergence between the science and the law requires the knowledge of attorneys that are familiar with the unique issues surrounding marijuana and allegations of DUI. At Brown, Paindiris & Scott, our criminal defense team has forty years of protecting defendant’s rights before state and federal law enforcement and prosecutors.

FAQ:

Why would I need to use a law firm with a cannabis law department? What services do you provide? How could a lawyer knowledgeable about cannabis law help me?

Due to the current differences between the state and federal laws regarding medical and recreational marijuana programs, there are novel and unique issues associated with the developing field of marijuana law that attorneys in this fast-paced area will be more adept at navigating for our clients. Here at Brown, Paindiris & Scott, we provide a full spectrum of services in the area of marijuana law, from DUI to how to get your marijuana business, as authorized by Connecticut law, off the ground. Contact Brown, Paindiris & Scott to find out more about how our lawyers who focus in issues surrounding marijuana law can help you.

What is actual Connecticut state law regarding cannabis? I’m confused, isn’t cannabis legal?

Connecticut is one of a majority of states that has legalized a medical marijuana program and adult-use (recreational) cannabis despite the federal a blanket federal prohibition on the possession of marijuana. Many states, including Connecticut, have chosen this path toward legalization of a medical marijuana program and adult-use based on current scientific data and the support of its constituents.

How is medical marijuana different from recreational use of cannabis?

Medical Marijuana in Connecticut is the use of a marijuana to treat a specific qualifying condition and can only be undertaken in strict compliance with the statutory and regulatory regime created by the legislature and Department of Consumer Protection (“DCP”). Recreational Marijuana is the use of marijuana in the same manner as one would use alcohol or tobacco, by adults 21 years of age and older.

The terms “cannabis” and “marijuana” are often interchangeable and used to describe any plant containing THC content of 0.3% of greater, and by extension often times also includes any product containing THC as an active ingredient.

Who is eligible for medical marijuana in Connecticut?

As of the DCP’s update on October 20, 2018, there are currently 40 qualifying conditions approved for adults and 11 for patients under 18 for which a Connecticut resident can seek to be certified for registration in the medical marijuana program. The list of current conditions can be found on the Department of Consumer Protection website here.

How do the laws related to cannabis in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts impact residents of Connecticut?

Despite the recreational legalization of marijuana in surrounding states, including Massachusetts, it remains illegal to cultivate, possess or sell marijuana in Connecticut, but for in compliance with Connecticut’s limited medical marijuana program, or with a license obtained under the Connecticut Responsible and Equitable Regulation of Adult-Use Cannabis Act” or “RERACA”.