Ohio Supreme Court formally adopts Amendment to Rule 1.2, clarifying that Ohio lawyers can advise medical marijuana companies

Bringing the uproar surrounding attorney representation of Ohio medical marijuana clients largely to an end, on September 20th the Ohio Supreme Court formally adopted an amendment to Prof.Cond.R. 1.2(d). The new Rule 1.d(d) reads: (d)(1) A lawyer shall not counsel a client to engage, or assist…

Attorney Ethics and Legal Marijuana: Ohio Supreme Court Proposes Partial Fix

We’ve covered the ethical issues associated with legal marijuana on this blog previously, including the August 2016 advisory opinion issued by the Board of Professional Conduct. Today, the Ohio Supreme Court proposed a rule change to Rule 1.2 that would allow attorneys to represent…

Attorney Ethics and Legal Marijuana: Amendments Proposed to Rules 1.2 and 8.4

The recent advisory opinion issued by the Ohio Supreme Court Board of Professional Conduct has led to a myriad of concerns among lawyers and others in Ohio’s medical marijuana community. Thankfully, the Chief Justice of the Ohio Supreme Court is aware and the Court…

Attorney Ethics and Legal Marijuana: Advisory Opinion 2016-6

Summary This past June, a number of Ohio attorneys (including our firm) submitted a request to the Board for an advisory opinion on three distinct issues (for a primer on the professional issues involving Ohio’s medical marijuana law, click here): Whether an Ohio lawyer may ethically…

Breaking: Devastating Advisory Opinion from the Ohio Supreme Court Board of Professional Conduct

We’ve previously covered the topic of Ohio attorney professional ethics relating to House Bill 523 and the coming medical marijuana industry in Ohio. Well, today Ohio lawyers received the much-anticipated advisory opinion from the Board of Professional Conduct and it was…. less than encouraging….

Join us at the Marijuana Business Daily Crash Course Seminars in Cleveland and Cincinnati!

I‘m excited to announce that I will be one of the featured speakers at the Marijuana Business Daily Crash Course seminars taking place in Cleveland and Cincinnati next month, where I’ll have the opportunity to present and answer questions on the legal issues associated…

Ohio’s General Assembly Votes to Legalize Medical Marijuana

Yesterday the Ohio General Assembly completed its work on HB 523 by passing the final version of the bill to legalize medical marijuana in Ohio. The bill is now in front of Governor John Kasich, who has 10 days from passage to act on…

The Transition From Policy to Practice

In the wake of a medical marijuana bill clearing the General Assembly, a discussion of policy can begin to transition into a discussion of science. The legitimacy of cannabis as a pharmaceutical has created controversy for decades – this is thanks in part to…

Ohio Senate Committee Amends Medical Marijuana Bill

Today I had the opportunity to offer testimony on H.B. 523 to the Ohio Senate Government Oversight and Reform Committee, which is considering the medical marijuana bill passed by the Ohio House last week. My testimony focused on the need for clarity as to…

The Obama Administration and the War on Drugs

“The war on drugs has been an utter failure. We need to rethink and decriminalize our marijuana laws. We need to rethink how we’re operating the drug war.” – Then-Senate-Candidate Barack Obama, January 2004 “I don’t mind a debate around issues like decriminalization ….