According to an article by Marijuana Moment, a marijuana business in Oregon that is fighting the state’s export ban asked a federal judge to let the case go to court. The company said it has a “right to operate its business, whether it is legal under federal law or not, free of unconstitutional state laws like the export ban.”
In November, Jefferson Packing House, a cannabis wholesaler based in Medford, sued the state of Oregon to get the state export ban overturned. Its lawyers say that the law breaks the Dormant Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution. This clause is meant to encourage competition between states by keeping them from regulating interstate commerce on their own.
In its lawsuit, the company says that the export ban hurts “not only Oregon growers, processors, and wholesalers, but also non-residents, who can’t get the high-quality marijuana products made in Oregon unless they go to Oregon to buy them.”
Lawyers for the state have asked the court to throw out the case because Jefferson doesn’t have the right to sue. In a January motion, they said that because federal law also forbids the export of cannabis products, the company’s “alleged injuries are not likely to be addressed by the relief it is seeking.” Also, they say that the way the lawsuit describes the Dormant Commerce Clause is not true.
