Griffen is an attorney in Harris Sliwoski’s Los Angeles office, where he focuses his practice on corporate, transactional, intellectual property, data security, regulatory, and litigation matters across a wide variety of domestic and international industries.
I recently published a nationwide psychedelics law roundup post. But in doing so, I realized that it’s been a while since we did a comprehensive California psychedelics update. Today, I’ll walk through the two key proposed California psychedelics laws and where they stand. California’s push to decriminalize (almost) all psychedelics In 2021, California Senator Scott
Want to use psychedelics for religious purposes in the U.S.? The government should let you, but it’s not going to make it easy. In 2006, the U.S. Supreme Court paved the way for religious exemptions to the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) for illegal psychedelics. Since then, only a few groups have been granted such exemptions
You’ve probably heard of section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code (IRC), which provides certain tax exemptions for qualifying charitable organizations. You also probably know that there are many psychedelic religious groups worldwide. The question I want to answer today is “can psychedelic religions obtain 501(c)(3) status?” What is 501(c)(3) status and how do religions
In this post, I’ll do a brief state psychedelic law roundup. I won’t cover local (city or county) measures or all the states. Instead, I’ll summarize some of the recent action or more significant developments in states across the country. Washington State Psilocybin Law On January 6, Washington lawmakers introduced the Washington Psilocybin Services Wellness and
The DEA violates religious freedom through its opaque and arguably illegal process for applicants seeking religious exemptions to the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). I’ve made this point before. But today, I want to look at one of the more nefarious ways in which the DEA’s exemption process violates religious freedoms. To do that, I first
I get the same questions any time I tell someone that my law firm has a psychedelics practice group. One of the top 5 is: “is microdosing psilocybin legal?” The short answer is no. But like any area of the law, it’s complex. Today, I’ll dissect the legality of microdosing psilocybin. What is psilocybin microdosing?
The United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is preparing to pass a rule that would place five tryptamine hallucinogens on Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). These compounds would then be as illegal as heroin, fentanyl or other dangerous drugs. Their possession, use, and manufacture would be a felony that could lead to
Cannabis is legal and regulated in most U.S. states. Oregon legalized and will soon regulate psilocybin. Cities around the country decriminalized (and more are decriminalizing) a host of other psychedelics. Ketamine clinics are popping up around the county. Next up is MDMA (referred to in some forms as “ecstasy”). Today, we’re going to talk about
You are an experienced cannabis operator. You have dealt with nonsensical regulations. You’ve navigated the world of dealing with a highly regulated substance. You’ve solicited large investments and beat out your competitors. You’ve learned enough about corporate governance and tax to go toe to toe with the best. Think you can easily pivot to the
It’s been a while since I provided an update on the state of California psychedelics law, but there have been a few important updates in the last few weeks, so it’s now that time. Before jumping in, I’ll remind readers that currently, all psychedelics are illegal under federal law unless a person has received an
