In the days of the Armada, a fleet of warships, the scuttlebutt was the rumor or gossip that would spread throughout the ship. Today, Armada Law Corp presents The Scuttlebutt, a daily summery of news articles that people within the cannabis, hemp and plant medicine industries are chatting about along with links to the full articles.
In today’s news:
#californiacannabis – “An investor who leveled fraud charges against the operator of California-based cannabis venture Bloom Farms did not intentionally destroy evidence during his Delaware Chancery Court litigation and should not be forced to pay the company’s $2.2 million attorney fees, his attorney told Delaware’s Supreme Court Wednesday.
Since Jeff Menashe did not intend to undermine his opponent’s case when he wiped company laptops and deleted text messages, he should not be sanctioned for destruction of evidence, or spoliation, his attorney Marina V. Bogorad of Gerard Fox Law PC told a three-justice panel during appeal arguments Wednesday.”
#cannabislaw – “In an order filed Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Benjamin H. Settle granted the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board’s motion for summary judgment in Todd Brinkmeyer’s suit, while denying Brinkmeyer’s own bid for summary judgment, finding that the dormant commerce clause only protects lawful interstate trade, while the Controlled Substances Act renders cannabis illegal, even if states have legalized it.
While the First Circuit last year held that a similar law in Maine violated the commerce clause, Judge Settle wrote that states do not have the power to “legalize” a substance deemed illegal by Congress, and therefore Brinkmeyer cannot show that he has a constitutional right to participate in an illegal business.
“No party in this case suggests that citizens have a federal statutory or constitutional property right to cannabis while it remains federally illegal and, in fact, they do not,” the judge wrote. “It is not clear to this Court how the dormant Commerce Clause can be read to protect illegal interstate commerce. The Supremacy Clause, preemption, general principles of federalism, and common sense suggest it does not.””
#cannabisindustry – “In a complaint filed in Illinois federal court Tuesday, Luxembourg-based PM-International named Revolutionary Relief Inc. and its president and co-founder, Marzena Jonak, as defendants, saying Jonak’s company has continued to use a confusingly similar mark even after it was informed of the infringement.
According to the complaint, PM-International has used the trademark in the U.S. since 2012, has it registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and uses it on its products and advertisements to create and bolster brand recognition and goodwill.
As part of its international distribution, PM-International uses a multilevel marketing program, in which it contracts with independent distributors to promote and sell its products directly to customers, according to the complaint, and in June 2014, Jonak registered to become one of those distributors.
This made Jonak very familiar with the NTC mark and logo, PM-International told the court, which is a circular mark with a large “NTC” in the center, and smaller “Nutrient Transport Concept” along the top of the circle, and “Made in Germany” along the bottom.”
#cannabispolitics – “Marijuana will struggle for attention in the current Congress despite promising signs demonstrating the issue’s continued success.
Although marijuana legalization has spread to red states including Missouri, where adult-use sales began last week, and a majority of Americans profess support in polling for legalization, lawmakers, lobbyists and other interested observers interviewed for this story suggest that modest reform – let alone major, revolutionary change such as federal legalization – remains years away.
“Nobody is expecting to get a whole lot done, this year or next,” said one prominent cannabis lobbyist, who was granted anonymity in order to speak freely.
“That’s the general opinion from staffers involved with cannabis on both sides of the aisle.””
#californiacannabis – “Angelenos looking for a variety of communal cannabis experiences — legal ones, anyway — might want to consider road-tripping to Palm Springs for a weed weekend. That’s because while Los Angeles hasn’t issued a single consumption lounge license (the only two in the area are in West Hollywood), Palm Springs has issued 10, according to the most recent list provided by the desert city.”
https://www.latimes.com/lifestyle/list/weed-lounges-in-palm-springs