A U.S. District Judge has upheld Washington’s residency requirement for the state’s legal cannabis industry in a ruling issued on February 14, 2023. The decision was contrary to a federal appeals court ruling concerning a similar requirement in Maine.
Todd Brinkmeyer brought the case, a resident of Idaho, who sued the Washington Liquor and Cannabis Board in 2020 after his attempt to invest in a cannabis business in Washington was blocked by the state’s residency requirement. The requirement mandates that investors and owners in regulated marijuana businesses must have lived in the state for at least six months.
Brinkmeyer argued that the residency requirement was unconstitutional as it interfered with interstate commerce, which is the purview of Congress and also discriminated against him as an out-of-state resident. However, U.S. District Judge Benjamin Settle in Tacoma disagreed with this argument and found that the residency requirement could not interfere with interstate commerce because there is no legal interstate commerce in marijuana as the drug remains illegal under federal law.
The judge noted that the residency requirement attempted to prevent any interstate commerce in cannabis and to prevent cannabis from Washington from moving into states where it remains illegal, like Idaho. He also ruled that Washington was not discriminating against Brinkmeyer as an out-of-state resident under the Constitution’s “Privileges and Immunities Clause” because “it has never been established that there is any right…to engage in illegal commerce.”
The ruling was in contrast to a decision from a federal court judge in Maine, who struck down a residency requirement in that state’s medical marijuana program. The First U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld that ruling last summer, stating that whether legal or not, there is interstate commerce in marijuana, and it’s up to Congress to regulate it.
Dan Oates, an attorney for Brinkmeyer, said they were evaluating whether to appeal Settle’s order, adding that the ruling stood in stark contrast to the majority of rulings by other federal courts on the same issue.
Washington and Colorado became the first U.S. states to legalize the recreational use of cannabis for adults in 2012. Washington limited investment in and ownership of its licensed cannabis businesses to within the state, primarily to persuade the U.S. Justice Department not to challenge its legal marijuana law in court.
The Washington CannaBusiness Alliance and the Craft Cannabis Coalition, two Washington cannabis industry groups, urged the court to strike down the residency requirement, stating that it unfairly limits access to investment. They noted that the livelihoods of thousands of citizens depend on the industry, and they are adversely affected by the state’s exclusionary and protectionist policies that restrict their ability to raise capital and grow their businesses.
In conclusion, the U.S. District Judge has upheld the residency requirement for Washington’s legal cannabis industry, stating that the requirement attempts to prevent any interstate commerce in cannabis and to prevent cannabis from Washington from moving into states where it remains illegal. However, the decision contrasts with a federal appeals court ruling concerning a similar requirement in Maine, and Brinkmeyer’s attorney is evaluating whether to appeal the order.
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Judge upholds Washington’s residency requirement in state’s cannabis industry