American Jurisprudence    

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The American Jurisprudence Track examines how courts, judges, attorneys, and law-enforcement professionals are navigating the rapidly evolving legal issues surrounding cannabis, hemp, impaired driving, workplace disputes, civil liability, and constitutional criminal procedure. Sessions emphasize case law development, evidentiary standards, litigation strategy, forensic science interpretation, and real-world courtroom and field-enforcement challenges.

 

 

Novel Approaches to Detecting Cannabis-related Impairment: Challenges and Opportunities    

As cannabis legalization expands, the field faces a central scientific and public health challenge: how to detect acute impairment, particularly relating to road safety, in a robust manner that balances sensitivity and specificity. Unlike alcohol, THC concentrations in blood or oral fluid do not reliably reflect functional impairment, and current roadside approaches such as standardized field sobriety tests have shown limitations. This symposium brings together leaders who are exploring novel methods to measure impairments associated with cannabis use. Methods, evaluated via controlled clinical trials, include 1) the use of mobile devices (tablets, phones) to directly assess cognitive abilities that putatively relate to driving ability, 2) portable functional near-infrared spectroscopy to identify prefrontal cortical signatures of acute THC intoxication, and 3) changes in pupillary and ocular functioning following THC use. The session will conclude with a panel discussion summarizing the successes, and limitations, of work to date, including accounting for individual differences in non-intoxicated individuals, identifying instrument form factors that facilitate use in the field, and the long road to acceptance and implementation within the legal arena.

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Rescheduled, Not Safe for Work: Cannabis, Schedule III, and the New Fault Lines in Employment Law    

Cannabis’s move from Schedule I to Schedule III has immediate and unresolved consequences for employers, HR professionals, and workplace policymakers. While rescheduling signals federal recognition of medical value, it does not legalize cannabis, eliminate impairment risks, or harmonize conflicting federal and state employment rules.
This session examines how the schedule change affects workplace drug policies, accommodation requests, safety-sensitive positions, and employee discipline. Panelists will analyze the growing gap between evolving medical and scientific understandings of cannabis and the blunt tools employers continue to rely on—urinalysis, zero-tolerance policies, and outdated impairment assumptions. The discussion will address how Schedule III status may influence ADA accommodation analysis, wrongful termination claims, unemployment benefits, workers’ compensation, and collective bargaining agreements, particularly in states with employee-protective cannabis statutes. Speakers will also explore whether rescheduling alters employer liability exposure, federal contractor obligations, and HR risk management strategies in regulated industries. Rather than offering simplistic compliance checklists, this session provides a doctrinal and practical framework for navigating cannabis in the modern workplace—clarifying what the law now requires, what it still prohibits, and where litigation risk is most likely to emerge.

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