Claims extracted
16
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
6%
1 of 16 hedged
("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
withheld
no quote in the article backed the model's score
Publisher signals
67/100
Reason's corrections and
hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
1
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Mostly law professors | Sometimes contrarian | Often libertarian | Always independent
Two-dozen states have legalized the adult possession of marijuana under state law.
asserted
states → legalize → law
Many more have legalized the possession and use of marijuana for medicinal purposes.
asserted
more → legalize → purposes
Yet marijuana distribution and possession remain illegal under federal law.
asserted
distribution → remain → law
The federal government may not devote significant resources toward enforcing federal marijuana prohibition, but the fact that marijuana is illegal under federal law can still have meaningful consequences (though fewer for gun owners than before, thanks to the Supreme Court's decision in United States v. Hemani).
uncertain
marijuana → devote → Hemani
A case in point that federal marijuana prohibition can have legal significance is today's decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in Hello Farms Marketing MI v. GR Vending MI, holding that a marijuana contract is unenforceable in federal court given the illegal subject matter and throwing out a contrary district court ruling.
asserted
contract → hold → ruling
Judge Nalbandian summarizes the case in his opinion for the court:
asserted
Nalbandian → summarize → court
Hello Farms, a Michigan marijuana grower, entered a contract to supply marijuana to Defendants GR Vending and CURA MI.
asserted
Farms → enter → Vending
When GR Vending breached, Hello Farms sued.
asserted
Farms → breach → ?
And a jury awarded Hello Farms $31.8 million.
asserted
jury → award → million
Defendants argue that because the contract was illegal under federal law, the district court erred by not granting them judgment as a matter of law on their illegality defense.
asserted
court → argue → defense
When the parties contracted, federal law made the growth, distribution, and possession of marijuana a crime.
asserted
growth → contract → marijuana
Michigan, like many other states, made it a business.
asserted
it → make → states
But despite the legalization of marijuana in Michigan, federal courts cannot enforce agreements to commit federal crimes.
asserted
courts → enforce → crimes
This case underscores a point I have tried to make in my work on this subject (including in my book Marijuana Federalism: Uncle Sam and Mary Jane): If we want to have real marijuana federalism, in which states can experiment productively with different approaches to marijuana, it is not enough for the federal government to do nothing.
asserted
government → underscore → nothing
It must make state experimentation legal, such as by ending the criminalization of conduct that is legal under applicable state law (while continuing to prohibit conduct that is illegal under applicable state law, including interstate trafficking in violation of the such laws).
asserted
that → make → laws
This was the federal government's approach to alcohol at the end of prohibition, and it is the only way to have a marijuana federalism that is free of the distorting effects of federal prohibition.
asserted
that → have → prohibition
The Aporia
