Can risky operators push marijuana interstate commerce forward?

As an attorney, Riana Durrett could never ask a cannabis operator to break the law.But there isn’t a better way to test the reading of the U.S.

constitution that Durrett, the director of the University Nevada Las Vegas Cannabis Policy Institute, and other legal scholars suggest could be another way forward for the cannabis industry that doesn’t hinge on President Donald Trump rescheduling marijuana.Or on federal prohibition argued before the Supreme Court for the first time in more than 20 years.

ADVERTISEMENT “I’m a believer in the dormant commerce clause arguments and that interstate commerce is no more illegal than intrastate commerce,” she added, referring to the language in the Constitution governing trade between the states – and the federal government’s ability to say what states can and can’t do.“I think this is a dam that could break before legalization or rescheduling,” said Durrett, one of the featured speakers on a panel discussion scheduled for Thursday at MJBizCon.

‘Marijuana reform before legalization or rescheduling’ Joining Durrett for the panel discussion of peculiar interest to active operators unsure of how to plan for the ever-shifting future, “Charting a Profitable Path in an Era of Balkanized Cannabis Policy,” are: Michelle Rutter Friberg, the director of government relations at the National Cannabis Industry Association Bryan Barash, vice president of external affairs and deputy counsel at software provider Dutchie Michael Bronstein, president of the American Trade Association for Cannabis and Hemp, a lobbying outfit active in the hemp THC ban debate.The risk and reward of testing marijuana law In theory, Congress has the sole right to regulate interstate commerce.

And the courts have upheld that states can’t prohibit “protectionist measures” that discriminate against out-of-state residents.Then again, Congress hasn’t legalized cannabis.

So what’...