Ability to source marijuana genetic material from outside Colorado Senate Bill 23-271, which went into effect in early 2024, aims to enhance Colorado’s marijuana industry. A key provision allows licensed marijuana cultivators to source “genetic material” from approved entities in other jurisdictions. Genetic material is defined as material used to propagate cannabis plants, including: Immature
Yesterday, some big news dropped that the cannabis industry has anticipated since last summer. I take issue with some of the headlines, so here’s mine: “DEA Reportedly Agrees to Initiate Proposed Rulemaking to Reschedule Marijuana…”. Clearly, I’m a lawyer and not a reporter, but the “Reportedly” and “Initiate Proposed Rulemaking” are key considerations here at
As states slowly but inevitably continue to legalize cannabis medically or recreationally, we often need to be reminded that cannabis is still illegal on the federal level. Due to this widespread, ineffective prohibition, the cannabis industry and its many operators must follow a very extensive and strict set of parameters to ensure that they remain
Two of our international cannabis lawyers, Vince Sliwoski (business) and Adams Lee (international trade), recently joined the Simply Trade podcast for a lively discussion on the international cannabis trade. You can hear that free-ranging, informative conversation at either of the following links: Apple Podcasts Spotify As explained in the Simply Trade show notes: This episode
We recently kicked off our series of posts grading the presidential candidates on their cannabis stances (check out the first post, on Joe Biden). Today we turn to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who as of January 8 was a distant second in the race for the nomination to frontrunner Donald Trump. But with Trump facing
2024 is going to be a crazy year for cannabis businesses and investors. Among many other things, there will be a general election, possible rescheduling to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), an upcoming Farm Bill that could re-tool how hemp and hemp products are regulated, and maybe even some federal cannabis legislation.
We are helping build out another cannabis banking program here in Oregon. My law firm has done a series of these for credit unions (“CU”s) and other financial institutions (“FIs”) going back to 2014. We have also handled a good bit of hemp banking work– mostly in 2019 and 2020 before that industry cratered. In
The lawsuit filed on October 26 against Merrick Garland to “end federal cannabis prohibition” wouldn’t really end federal cannabis prohibition. If you had that impression, it may be because reporting on this topic has been subpar. Many of the headlines are incomplete or downright misleading. Some stories take several paragraphs to explain the actual nature
Most Americans favor federal cannabis legalization. Nearly all Americans support medical cannabis legalization. This is not a new development. It has been that way for years. And it is a rare non-partisan issue. Over the past few years while support has been its highest, well, ever, a series of federal election cycles have come and
The Florida Chamber of Commerce has filed a brief with the state Supreme Court, opposing the placement of an adult-use cannabis legalization initiative on the 2024 ballot. The Chamber’s opposition is curious, given the clear potential that legalization holds for, well, commerce. If only for this reason, it is worth taking a closer look at
