In their latest column for Thomson Reuters and Westlaw Today, Alex Malyshev and Sarah Ganley of the Firm’s Cannabis industry group discuss the latest in cannabis law.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals kicked off 2026 by deepening one of the most consequential fault lines in US cannabis law. Its January 2 decision in Peridot Tree WA, Inc. v. Washington State Liquor & Cannabis Control Board, 162 F.4th 1179 (9th Cir. 2026), held that the Dormant Commerce Clause — a constitutional doctrine barring states from discriminating against interstate commerce — does not apply to state cannabis markets because cannabis remains federally illegal under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA).