Ohio lawyers can't help medical marijuana businesses, advisory opinion says
Ohio lawyers can give advice about the legality of operating a medical marijuana business in the state, but they can’t help clients establish or operate such a business, according to an advisory opinion.
The Supreme Court’s Board of Professional Conduct cited federal law in the Aug. 5 opinion (PDF), which was released Friday, Cleveland.com and the Toledo Blade report. Bloomberg Big Law Business noted the story.
The opinion said marijuana is still banned under federal law, creating a conflict with an Ohio law allowing medical marijuana. The U.S. Justice Department has indicated it won’t interfere with medical marijuana permitted under state law.
But the ethics rule barring lawyers from assisting illegal conduct doesn’t distinguish between illegal conduct that will and won’t be enforced by the government, the opinion said. The Ohio Supreme Court could amend state ethics rules to address the situation, the opinion noted.
The opinion also said the use of medical marijuana by a lawyer, or a lawyer’s participation in a medical marijuana business, could implicate ethics rules in some circumstances. The rules at issue govern conduct affecting a lawyer’s honesty or trustworthiness, and conduct that adversely affects a lawyer’s fitness to practice law.
Twenty-four states have legalized marijuana, and ethics opinions in most of those states say attorney involvement in marijuana businesses does not violate ethics rules, according to Cleveland.com. An ethics opinion in Hawaii, however, says lawyers can’t help medical marijuana businesses.
See also:
ABA Journal: “Do ethics rules allow lawyers to advise clients on new laws legalizing marijuana?”
