Legal Considerations After Marijuana Legalization

Legal-Ease Podcast

Back in 2019 Legal Ease Podcast produced an episode on bankruptcy law in the marijuana business, where Judge Dan Collins and ASU Law Professor Laura Coordes spoke on the matter. At the beginning of this year in January we got word from Judge Collins that our episode reached Guam and specifically the ears of Chief Judge Frances Tydingco-Gatewood. We were delighted to hear our episode helped inform the topic of marijuana and businesses in Guam. This episode is part 2, with Judge Tydingco-Gatewood joining us after listening to Part 1 of our episode. Judge Collins also joins us for Part 2 to inform the bankruptcy side of the marijuana industry, and we also have Professor Jelani Jefferson Exum here with us today as a guest to inform us on the criminal justice side of the marijuana industry. This episode is split into two sections -- one criminal justice focused and the other bankruptcy focused. Co-hosts ASU Law Professors Valena Beety and Laura Coordes take us through this episode, where the focus is to educate audiences on multiple aspects of the marijuana industry. Recreational marijuana is now legal for us in Arizona since November 2020. Arizona marijuana sales for the adult-use market officially began in January after state officials began notifying retail business license applicants that they’d been approved. This marks the fastest transitionfrom voter-approval to sales implementation of any state that has legalized marijuana todate. There are still restrictions in place for old and new marijuana users, as well as many lingering questions — some of which we’ll explore today.