Certain states where cannabis (or marijuana) is legal have long been getting away with a practice that has been declared unconstitutional in almost all other contexts: giving their residents preferential treatment over...more
In determining whether the commerce clause of the U.S. Constitution prohibits a state’s taxation of a remote seller, the U.S. Supreme Court for decades has upheld a tax if (1) there is a substantial nexus between the taxing...more
The Department has issued updated guidance addressing remote sellers’ cigarette and tobacco tax responsibilities after the Minnesota Legislature’s mid-2021 amendments to the State’s cigarette and tobacco tax and tobacco...more
On July 28, the Iowa attorney general’s office filed suit against Philip Morris, USA, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., and 16 other tobacco companies, accusing them of defrauding Iowa of over $133 million by allegedly engaging in...more
On July 21, the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act (CAOA), a comprehensive bill to decriminalize, regulate, and tax cannabis, was introduced by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ),...more
FDA reports that the progress of its review of popular vapor products’ pending PMTAs remains in line with its first report....more
The rapid evolution of the cannabis industry in the United States poses many unique questions, the most interesting of which is what cannabis regulation will look like under federal legalization. Although (legal) cannabis is...more
On June 23, the Virginia and Nevada attorneys general sent a letter on behalf of a bipartisan coalition of 23 state attorneys general, expressing concern about edible products containing tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) sold in...more
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently announced plans to publish a proposed rule that would establish a maximum nicotine level in cigarettes and certain “other combusted tobacco products.” At the moment, it is...more
It was the best of times… the passage of the Virginia Cannabis Control Act (CCA) in 2021 was celebrated by many as the first bill in the South to legalize adult-use cannabis. It was also heralded as the success of a...more
On June 10, a bipartisan coalition of 31 state attorneys general, led by Idaho, Illinois, Nebraska, and Pennsylvania, sent a letter to Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Dr. Robert M. Califf, asking the agency to...more
Status report concerns FDA’s review of 240 PMTAs submitted on or before September 9, 2020, for vapor products with larger market shares. FDA estimates that it will resolve most of these in the periods before July 2022 and...more
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has denied the Plaintiffs’/Appellants’ petition for a rehearing en banc following a divided panel’s holding that the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act neither...more
Retailers should take note that Philip Morris USA Inc., Altria Group, Inc, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company have reached an agreement with the United States Department of Justice on warnings to be placed in retail stores...more
On April 27, the Virginia Senate voted to send SB 591, which would have effectively eliminated the delta-8 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) product market in Virginia, back to committee, killing the bill for this year’s legislative...more
New Virginia law addresses excise taxation and other requirements regarding remote retail sales of cigars and pipe tobacco to consumers in the Commonwealth....more
Under Judge Grimm’s Revised Remedial Order, FDA must submit quarterly status reports regarding its review of pending PMTAs for certain popular vapor products....more
Last year we reported that Vermont Attorney General T.J. Donovan’s office settled with several online sellers over alleged violations of the state’s delivery sales ban of electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) (the...more
On February 15, the Senate confirmed cardiologist Robert M. Califf, M.D., to lead the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). He’s no stranger to the agency. Dr. Califf served a brief stint as FDA’s commissioner of food and...more
In the Agricultural Improvement Act of 2018 (also known as the 2018 Farm Bill), did Congress authorize hemp producers to handle “hot” hemp — cannabis byproducts that surpass the legal limit of delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinols...more
While cannabis legalization moves full steam ahead through much of the Northeast, the southeastern U.S. has been notably slow to uptake major reforms. These states haven’t made major headlines for their progressive cannabis...more
In August 2021, Swisher International Inc. filed a lawsuit against the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) seeking to have the FDA’s Deeming Rule declared invalid. Swisher followed its lawsuit with a petition for injunction to...more
On January 18, the National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG) sent a letter to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), urging the agency to expressly ensure that state attorneys general (State AGs) continue to have...more
Some cigarette pack labels may soon feature the phrases “95% less nicotine,” “helps reduce your nicotine consumption,” and “… greatly reduces your nicotine consumption.” On December 23, 2021, the Food and Drug Administration...more
The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) has made available the Field Information Kit and Management Instructions referenced in its November 4, 2021 Postal Bulletin, correcting hyperlinks in the Postal Bulletin. The Field Information...more