March 18, 2026
A California attorney who has challenged cannabis social equity programs in numerous jurisdictions asked the entire Ninth Circuit on Tuesday to reconsider whether the U.S. Constitution's dormant commerce clause applies to federally illegal marijuana.
January 02, 2026
A Ninth Circuit panel Friday rejected arguments by a would-be cannabis retail operator that said state and local residency requirements on marijuana business licenses are unconstitutional, ruling that the U.S. Constitution's dormant commerce clause doesn't apply to the cannabis industry because it's still illegal under federal law.
December 02, 2025
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday stayed proceedings in a constitutional challenge to Los Angeles' cannabis social equity program while the appellate court considers two other similar cases from the same litigant.
August 18, 2025
Officials from Rhode Island and Washington state have said in separate letters to federal circuit courts that the Second Circuit's determination last week that the Constitution's dormant commerce clause applied to marijuana should not affect their pending appeals in related cases.
June 03, 2025
A Ninth Circuit panel on Tuesday appeared skeptical that constitutional doctrine barring states from impeding interstate commerce should apply to the federally illegal marijuana market in a pair of cases involving cannabis business licenses in Washington state and Sacramento, California.
October 22, 2024
Would-be cannabis dispensary Peridot Tree WA Inc. has urged the Ninth Circuit to reverse orders denying an injunction and dismissing its suit challenging Washington's social equity licensing program, saying it violates the dormant commerce clause by favoring in-state operators.
September 20, 2024
A coalition of cannabis business advocates pushing for a legal interstate weed market told the Ninth Circuit on Friday that the dormant commerce clause of the Constitution applies to marijuana, but that state social equity programs geared towards restorative justice are still legitimate.
June 12, 2024
Washington's cannabis authority has asked the Ninth Circuit to reject an effort by an out-of-state retailer to block the state's social equity program from awarding retail licenses, arguing that a motion for preliminary injunction is moot now that the trial court has tossed the entire lawsuit with prejudice.