Cannabis Law

Margaret Kunstler and Deborah Hrbek have been advocating for changes in the drug laws since the early 1990s. Kunstler was an activist in the movement to repeal the Rockefeller Drug laws. With the William Moses Kunstler Fund for Racial Justice she successfully worked to amend the law to free many non-violent drug offenders. Hrbek was Secretary of the NYCLA Drug Policy Task Force and co-authored the committee's ground-breaking 1996 report on the case for drug legalization. When medical marijuana was first legalized in New York under the Compassionate Care Act (CCA) in 2014, Kunstler and Hrbek founded NY Cannabar, an interdisciplinary group of professionals including doctors, lawyers and drug policy experts who worked to make medical marijuana more widely available. The group opposed financial and other bars to entry, such as the requirement of huge investments simply to apply for a medical marijuana registered organization (RO) license. NY Cannabar worked to create public awareness of the NY medical marijuana program and to expand access to participation in the cannabis industry.

Hrbek Kunstler has been at the forefront of the movement to legalize and responsibly regulate the cannabis industry. We are currently representing licensing applicants under the Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act (MRTA) passed in 2021. The MRTA was designed to undo some of the harm caused by marijuana prohibition and Hrbek Kunstler is working to ensure that it fulfills its promise. We applaud New York States' decision to give priority in licensing to individuals (or a family member) convicted under New York's previously harsh marijuana drug laws.

We are experienced in administrative and regulatory law, as well as Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and Treasury licensing and compliance. We advise on risk management, due diligence, anti-money laundering and we handle all manner of contracts and corporate legal work associated with cannabis-related businesses.