7472. Cannabis Law, Policy and Culture

This course is an introduction to the legal, political, and cultural issues raised by the cannabis industry in the United States. The class examines important legal questions that have emerged in the modern era of cannabis legislation (~26 years), beginning with a historical analysis of the laws of prohibition, which help to shape and define the contemporary cannabis and hemp industries. The class then navigates the state and federal laws that give rise to the conflict between local and national enforcement standards, and touches on the network of federal agencies (HHS, DEA, NIDA, etc.) that oversee the placement of controlled substances on the various schedules in the Controlled Substances Act. The ever-present influence of the United Nations, through the UN Office of Drug Control and its patchwork agencies (UNODC, WHO, INCB, etc.) that regulate the international flow of medical cannabis will also be considered to discern the limits of the global cannabis industry. Finally, the course shifts focus to the nuanced structural inefficiencies in the legacy system like outsized tax liabilities and limited access to equitable protections under federal bankruptcy law. The course will punctuate the learning outcomes through several case studies (failed SPAC transactions, mergers that created new legal terms of art, and uncertain capital raising efforts) and will round out the semester by surveying how historically disenfranchised populations are faring in the “green economy”.