Manatt Health Partner Axel Bernabe was quoted in MJBizDaily on how social equity lawsuits regarding cannabis business license obtainment are impacting the cannabis industry.  

The article discussed a lawsuit in which a cannabis retail applicant sued the state of New York after the main owner was denied a license for not having a marijuana conviction in New York, halting the licensing process in crucial areas. The legal challenge also created significant uncertainty—among investors as well as would-be licensees—at a key time for New York's Office of Cannabis Management, according to Bernabe. “It created confusion and slowed capital getting in to the licensees who were supposed to be in a pole position,” he said. “It shook people’s faith in the process, and it pulled resources away from a brand-new agency that now has to focus on fighting a lawsuit when there was other work the agency should be doing.”   

Read the full MJBizDaily article here.