Duane Morris attorneys Justin Stern
and Joseph Pangaro
authored the July 1 Law360 article, "Okla. High Court
Marijuana Ruling Provides Preemption Guide."
Stern and Pangaro write:
Adult-use marijuana may be coming to Oklahoma sooner rather than
later — barring any unforeseen events, legalization of
marijuana for adult use will be on the state's ballot this
year.
On June 23, in the case of In re: State Question No. 807,
Oklahoma Supreme Court rejected arguments that the proposed
initiative was legally insufficient as preempted by federal laws
making marijuana illegal. Interestingly, the court explained that
state legalization of marijuana would not be "clearly or
manifestly" unconstitutional as preempted by the federal
Controlled Substances Act, or CSA, despite the apparent
conflict.
