A group of cannabis businesses has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review the constitutionality of the federal government’s ongoing prohibition on marijuana.
The petition, filed Friday by Boies Schiller Flexner LLP on behalf of several Massachusetts-based companies, including Verano Holdings, Canna Provisions, Wiseacre Farm, and Gyasi Sellers, contends that the federal government oversteps its authority by criminalizing cannabis operations that occur solely within state borders.
At the heart of their argument is the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution. The companies say it prevents Washington from applying criminal laws to marijuana businesses that operate only inside a single state’s regulated system. They are asking the justices to revisit the 2005 ruling in Gonzales v. Raich, in which the court narrowly upheld the federal government’s power to enforce marijuana prohibition even against intrastate activity in California.
According to the new petition, that decision marked a sharp break from established interpretations of the Elastic and Commerce Clauses, leading to what the filing calls “a serious intrusion” into states’ rights to manage health and safety matters.
The brief argues that the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) undermines the policy decisions of 38 states that have legalized cannabis in some form. It argues that while only nine states had legalized cannabis when Raich was decided, the landscape has since changed dramatically, and Congress’s national ban “displaces those states’ choices and imposes federal will on local policy.”
A federal appeals court dismissed the companies’ claims in May, following an earlier loss in district court. Despite the setbacks, attorneys for the plaintiffs have made clear from the start that they intended to bring the issue before the Supreme Court. At least four justices are required to vote in favor of review.
Some observers see a potential opening in past comments from Justice Clarence Thomas. In 2021, he criticized the federal government’s inconsistent stance toward marijuana, calling it “a half-in, half-out regime” that both tolerates and forbids local use. Thomas suggested that the court might one day need to reconsider Raich, given the significant changes in the legal landscape.
The filing comes as the federal government considers whether to move cannabis to Schedule III under the CSA—a change President Donald Trump said he would decide on soon but has yet to announce. Separately, the Supreme Court agreed this week to hear another case testing the constitutionality of a federal law that bars individuals who use marijuana or other drugs from owning firearms, an issue the administration argues is critical to public safety.
Marijuana firms like Trulieve Cannabis Corp. (CSE: TRUL) (OTCQX: TCNNF) from across the country will be watching whether the Supreme Court votes to hear this petition and what eventual ruling they make after the legal process runs its course.
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