18 Oct High Times in Washington: Can Lawyers Ethically Smoke Pot?

As we know, Washington State recently approved the recreational use of marijuana, official as of December 1. As we also know, doing so remains a federal crime. This has caused a number of thorny issues for those in the business of growing and selling pot. And, apparently, an ethical dilemma for lawyers in the Evergreen State.

So much so that, according to the ABA Journal, the Seattle area bar association has formally requested that the Washington Supreme Court rule that lawyers who smoke pot under the Washington law not be considered as acting unethically as attorneys. The bar association is also asking the court to clarify that lawyers can advise people about the new law without running afoul of ethics rules. The proposed rules make clear that lawyers would still be subject to other laws like driving while impaired.

The fascinating inside baseball question for my attorney friends in the world of “conflicts of laws”: can a court direct lawyers that it’s ok to follow a state law that violates federal law? I don’t know, but in this case the libertarian side of me frankly hopes so.