Dear Pot Lawyer,
With cannabis in the crosshairs on a federal level, do you have any good, all-around advice for local consumers and businesses to stay out of trouble?
Mister Rogers had the right idea. And Jesus summed it up nicely when he said in Mark 12:31, “Do not annoy thy neighbor.” (I’m paraphrasing.) Everyone has neighbors. Be nice to them. Whether you’re a business, a caregiver, a patient, or a consumer, having positive relationships with your neighbors makes life better.
Before the DEA, DOJ, OLCC, OHA, SWAT, landlord, or anyone else gets involved, neighbors are often the front line of legal enforcement (and defense). Many headaches can simply be avoided if your neighbors are comfortable, happy, and enthusiastic allies. If they like you, they are less likely to make complaints, give unpleasant testimony, or start lawsuits. They might even stick up for you.
Grouchy neighbors can create real hassles simply by complaining (with or without merit) to an authority. If it’s bad enough, they may sometimes file nuisance lawsuits. Under Oregon law, “nuisance” is generally divided into two categories: (1) private nuisance, defined as an unreasonable invasion of a person’s interest in the use and enjoyment of the person’s land; and (2) public nuisance, defined as an unreasonable interference with a right common to the general public. If there is a substantial and unreasonable invasion of or interference with these rights, there could be a legal cause of action for nuisance. In the cannabis context, this might relate to odor, noise, foot traffic, or other activity that meets the non-frivolous legal threshold of a “substantial and unreasonable” invasion or interference.