In a recent article by Natural Products Insider, cannabis lawyer Garrett Graff offered insight into whether or not it would be reasonable for cannabis trade associations to initiate a lawsuit for rejecting petitions that would offer a pathway to market for CBD as a dietary supplement.
An excerpt from Natural Products Insider is below:
Even if a trade association and/or company that sued FDA survived motions to dismiss and persuaded a judge to hear the case, they would need to overcome another obstacle: prevailing on the substantive issues.
“Governmental decisions and governmental agencies are given such deference that there would need to be some sort of clear and unequivocal error in FDA’s position,” cannabis attorney Garrett Graff said in an interview. “I think it would be challenging to initiate a lawsuit against FDA on the basis of effectively punting to Congress to further dictate regulatory change.”
To prevail, FDA would need to show it “acted rationally and within its discretion,” added Graff, who’s a partner at the law firm Moye White.
Read the full article.
Graff’s law practice focuses on representing clients in a variety of regulated sectors, including brewing and distilling, cannabis (both marijuana and hemp), and food and beverage. He counsels clients throughout the corporate life cycle on matters involving corporate formation and structuring; ongoing operational agreements, including leases, supply/distribution agreements, licensing agreements, and services agreements; as well as debt/equity financing and mergers and acquisitions.
Natural Products Insider leads CPG brands from ideation through manufacturing, supporting the development of innovative, healthy and compliant products, and helps companies understand the supply, formulation, science, and regulatory considerations affecting the healthy and better-for-you CPG market.
About Moye White LLP
Moye White is a full-service business law firm serving clients throughout the United States and internationally, with offices in Colorado and Georgia. The firm provides legal representation to clients in a wide variety of industries offering strategic, business-oriented counsel to public, private, and governmental clients in complex business and real estate transactions and commercial litigation matters.