Pennsylvania Cannabis Law Updates

Judith D. Cassel | Hawke McKeon & Sniscak LLP

Judith D. Cassel of Cannabis Law PA provides legal guidance to growers, processors, dispensaries, laboratories, physicians, certified medical education providers, state cannabis organizations, ancillary businesses, attorney bar associations, and state agencies navigating the regulatory landscape of medical marijuana and hemp. Ms. Cassel assists clients in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Ohio, Massachusetts, West Virginia, Illinois, Utah, and Oklahoma.

Ms. Cassel has given presentations on medical marijuana and hemp in states across the Northeast including the Pennsylvania Bar Association and the Delaware Widener School of Law. She has been a panelist on medical marijuana issues for WITF’s SmartTalk Radio, the Opioid Epidemic: Law and Policy Program, Mother and Baby War on Opioids, All Matters FDA, and the Pennsylvania Bar Institute where she focused on how medical marijuana may alleviate the opioid crisis. Ms. Cassel has authored numerous articles on medical marijuana, including most recently in The Pennsylvania Lawyer and Marijuana Ventures, and has been quoted in publications such as the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Philadelphia Inquirer and MJ Biz Daily. Ms. Cassel is an adjunct professor at the Widener School of Law teaching Medical Marijuana Law.

Ms. Cassel utilizes her law degree in conjunction with her MBA and years of corporate experience to assist medical marijuana clients with a myriad of issues including: entity formation, financing, contract negotiations, agency investigation responses, regulatory drafting, sales and leasing transactions, and litigation. In her regulatory practice, Ms. Cassel has represented clients in applications, investigations, financing, and litigation before state courts and administrative agencies. Ms. Cassel has most recently taken on pro bono clients in the area of Section 8 Housing. Ms. Cassel believes that residents of Section 8 Housing should not have to choose between their medical marijuana and the roof over their heads.

Associations

• Nurse Family Partnership Advisory Board, a Division of University of Pennsylvania’s Lancaster General Hospital
• Co-Vice Chair, Pennsylvania Bar Association Medical Marijuana and Hemp Section
• Law & Government Institute Advisory Board, Widener University Commonwealth Law School
• Instructor for CME on medical marijuana legal issues

Honors & Distinctions

• Central Penn Business Journal’s Top 40 Under 40
• Pegasus Elite Mobil Oil Corp.
• Honors in Negotiations and Russian Business Law
• NCAA Division I All-American and five-time record holder Track and Field Penn State

Publications, Media Appearances, and Presentations

• Marijuana Business Daily, “As Pennsylvania’s Medical Cannabis Sales Soar, Recreational Market Prospects Brighten.” July 9, 2020
• Multi-Family Affordable Housing Conference, June 26-28, 2019 – Lancaster, PA
• Employment and Labor Relations, April 5, 2019 – Indiana University of Pennsylvania
• All Matters FDA, April 3, 2019 – Widener University of Delaware Law School
• Disclaimers and Informed Consent in the Medical Marijuana Industry, THE LEGAL INTELLIGENCER, June 7, 2018
• Medical Marijuana as One Solution to the Opioid Epidemic in Pennsylvania, THE PENNSYLVANIA LAWYER, Jan/Feb 2018. Pennsylvania Bar Institute, Next Steps for Medical Marijuana in PA: Evolving Issues in a Growing Industry, Oct. 25, 2017
• Cannabis Expertise, Pennsylvania 4-Hour Certification Course (2017-Present)
• Lancaster Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Conference, The Mother/Baby War on Opioids: Hope and Healing, Oct. 4, 2017
• Panel Member, WITF, Smart Talk, “Medical Cannabis” (July 26, 2017)
• Lancaster Bar Association, “Planting the Seed: Legalities & Realities of Medical Marijuana in Pennsylvania”, June 13, 2017
• Presented “Opioid Epidemic Law and Policy” at Widener Law and Government Institute, March 29, 2017
• Pennsylvania creates ideal market for investors, Marijuana Venture, October 2016, at 144
• Presented “Regulatory Impacts on Midstream Operations in Pennsylvania” at 2nd Annual U.S. Midstream Oil and Gas Law Conference in Houston, Texas, November 22nd, 2013
• Oil Express Article, July 2013

William G. Roark | Hamburg, Rubin, Mullin, Maxwell & Lupin

William G. Roark is a Principal of Hamburg, Rubin, Mullin, Maxwell & Lupin and chair of the firm’s medical marijuana practice. He represents individuals and businesses in the medical marijuana industry by helping them comply with Pennsylvania’s Medical Marijuana Act. He assists clients to understand the permitting application process and the requirements associated with entering this industry. Because he has remained on the forefront of the legislative development and implementation of the Act, Bill has been asked to plan and present at various educational seminars teaching other professionals about this new law.

Since 2014, he has devoted his time to expanding the legal profession’s knowledge and awareness of the Medical Marijuana Act and its precursors so that the profession can be better prepared to meet the numerous legal needs on the horizon. He currently serves as co-chair of the Pennsylvania Bar Association’s Medical Marijuana and Hemp Law Committee.

Micah Bucy | Hawke McKeon & Sniscak LLP

Micah Bucy is an associate at Cannabis Law PA in Harrisburg, PA. He has represented growers, processors, dispensaries, physicians, laboratories, among others in the burgeoning cannabis and hemp industry. Mr. Bucy has assisted numerous cannabis and hemp clients in all aspects of operations including entity formation, application drafting and assistance, land use and zoning, commercial and administrative litigation and appeals, and regulatory compliance matters. Mr. Bucy has assisted clients in Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey, West Virginia, Ohio, Georgia, Illinois, and Utah.

Mr. Bucy received his B.A. from Coastal Carolina University and his J.D. from the University of Maryland School of Law.

I. Challenges facing PA medical marijuana permittees | 12:00pm – 12:20pm
II. Recent court cases in the cannabis space | 12:20pm – 12:40pm
III. Chapter 20 entities (PA medical marijuana research program) | 12:40pm – 1:00pm

Break | 1:00pm – 1:10pm

IV. Recent developments in the cannabis regulatory space | 1:10pm – 1:30pm
V. Conflicts between state and federal law | 1:30pm – 1:50pm
VI. Research | 1:50pm – 2:10pm