Marijuana MSO Curaleaf sues New Jersey to avoid death penalty

Prominent marijuana multistate operator Curaleaf Holdings sued New Jersey cannabis regulators earlier this month seeking to overturn labor-friendly licensing requirements as well as punishment the company claims is “the commercial equivalent of the death penalty.” In a complaint filed Oct.9 in United States Court in New Jersey against the state Cannabis Regulatory Commission, attorneys for Stamford, Connecticut-based Curaleaf allege that state law requiring cannabis businesses to obtain labor peace agreements (LPAs) violate federal law.

ADVERTISEMENT Mandated in several pro-union states, including California and New York as well as New Jersey, an LPA is a pact in which a business agrees to remain neutral during organizing activities.In return, the union agrees to forego strikes and boycotts.

Neither the New Jersey CRC nor representatives for Curaleaf immediately responded to requests for comment on Tuesday.According to its suit, Curaleaf had an LPA with the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 360 that expired in April after the union and the company couldn’t agree on a renewal.

UFCW is one of two major unions organizing workers in the labor-intensive cannabis industry along with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.The lawsuit alleges that LPAs violate the federal National Labor Relations Act (NLRA).

It seeks a judge’s declaration that New Jersey’s LPA requirement violates federal law and cannot be enforced and that regulators can’t punish Curaleaf for not abiding by it.Curaleaf lawsuit is latest challenge to pro-union cannabis laws Curaleaf’s challenge to the LPA requirement in New Jersey is the latest of several ongoing lawsuits that seek to undo the labor-friendly licensing requirements seen in several major marijuana markets across the U.S.

But it also follows a successful legal effort to strike down an LPA requirement in Oregon.In that case, a federal judge found that L...