Oregon State Bar Offers Lawyers a Cannabis Section

It becomes the third lawyers’ bar in the nation to add a cannabis law division, following Michigan and Colorado.

(WW staff, Potlander 2016)
By Tom Berridge

The Oregon State Bar has added a smoking section.

It has become the third lawyers' bar in the nation to add a cannabis law division, following Michigan and Colorado.

The bar, which licenses and regulates attorneys, has created a Cannabis Law Section that attorneys can join to access specialized education about pot laws. The section also will provide policy guidance to statewide leaders.

"We have identified roughly 18 areas of law where cannabis law intersects with other areas of the law, as it grows into a practice area with particular complexity," said Portland lawyer Leland Berger in a statement. "Our goal is to help lawyers throughout Oregon provide the best possible counsel to their clients."

The cannabis section is the 43rd special section of the Oregon State Bar and the first that has been created since 2013, when a new section was created to address issues involving military veterans. The section so far has attracted 71 Oregon lawyers.

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