Mondaq- Clyde & Co Article: United States: States’ Cannabis Legalization Legislation Outpaces Availability Of Insurance Coverage
by Vikram Sidhu , Cheryl Yakey , Jared Wilner and Megan Kuzniewski Clyde & Co As of February 2020, cannabis is legal for adults over the age of 21 in eleven states and Washington D.C. As of February 1, 2020, cannabis is legal for recreational and medical use by adults over the age of 21 in 11 states and Washington D.C., and is legal for medical use in 33 states. These numbers are likely to increase substantially in the next few years as more than half the states have pending legislation legalizing cannabis for some use or decriminalizing the drug. Currently, there are bills pending in 20 states to allow adult recreational use, 10 states to decriminalize simple possession, and 12 states with bills to create comprehensive medical cannabis programs, with some overlap among these three categories. Yet, despite the rapid expansion that the cannabis market continues to experience, the cannabis industry continues to face substantial obstacles, inter alia, in meeting its needs for the broad range of insurance coverages that businesses normally require—ranging from property and general liability insurance to coverages for their employees. In the face of continued federal illegality of cannabis and related legal uncertainty, the insurance industry has understandably been cautious about providing coverage to cannabis businesses. There are players in the insurance market currently conducting business with the cannabis industry, especially in the surplus lines market. However, most insurance companies, particularly in the admitted market, remain hesitant about covering this growing and potentially highly lucrative business for various reasons, most notably the continued…
Excerpt only …
READ MORE BELOW
Source : CANNANNEW REPORT
Link to original : Mondaq- Clyde & Co Article: United States: States’ Cannabis Legalization Legislation Outpaces Availability Of Insurance Coverage
reposted by Cannabis News World