Cannabis & Hemp

As we previously blogged, the line between “agricultural” work and “processing” work in the cannabis industry has real consequences for whether workers can unionize under federal labor law.

A massive 320-page class action complaint filed on May 4, 2026, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois has the attention of the cannabis sector. The insurance professionals who underwrite it should also be paying close attention. The case, Murray et al. v. Cresco Labs Inc. et al., represents the most ambitious legal assault yet on the marketing practices of major cannabis multistate operators (MSOs).

Alexander G. Malyshev and Sarah H. Ganley examine the final order rescheduling cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act. The analysis clarifies that this rescheduling applies specifically to medical cannabis and does not constitute federal legalization of cannabis.