Washington Cannabis Licensing: What Buyers Need to Know We get questions about Washington cannabis licensing all the time. The first question is usually whether new licenses are even available. For most buyers, the answer is no. Washington is a capped market, which means entry usually depends on buying or investing in an existing licensed business.
Last month, we hosted a webinar on federal cannabis law and policy in 2026. While things are not where we’d like them to be, it’s amazing to consider everything that has happened over the years. From a lawyering perspective, it’s almost unbelievable. I have worked as a business lawyer in the cannabis industry for over
I have helped people buy, sell and invest in hundreds of cannabis businesses. I’ve represented many hundreds more. One thing that makes my job harder, at times, is working with cannabis businesses that have misaligned public records and reporting. There are three pillars of public reporting, or disclosures, that a cannabis business should strive to
The Oregon legislative session formally kicked off this week, on Tuesday, January 21st. It’s a regular session in 2025, meaning we’re in for a longer stretch — a 160-day calendar, versus the 35-day affair we see in even-numbered years. If you read any of the news articles previewing the 2025 session, you won’t see cannabis
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
I’ve been representing clients in California’s cannabis industry since 2018. Our firm has been representing businesses in the space for many years before that, in states with more mature licensing programs. One of the most common mistakes we see in new cannabis markets is businesses that rely too much on federal legalization happening. For example,
I’m pretty sure that more ink has been spilled on the Secure and Fair Enforcement Act (“SAFE Banking”), than any other proposed cannabis law. It just won’t pass and it just won’t die. Specifically, SAFE Banking was introduced in 2017 and it passed the House seven times (seven times!) with bipartisan support since 2019. The
Oregon’s governor recently vetoed an effort to create a state bank for marijuana businesses, in another blow to the struggling industry. The lack of consistent, equitable access to banking has been recurring issue for Oregon marijuana businesses and those in other states. Federal reform through the Secure and Fair Enforcement Banking Act (SAFE Act) has
It’s been an eventful month in Oregon cannabis. Below are some early summer notes on three things we’ve been doing and watching and writing about. The Chalice receivership I covered this last month as the ship was going down. Today, the Oregon receivership is well underway and we’re getting regular notices. It hasn’t been smooth
The hopes for better and increased marijuana banking, which were tied up in the Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act (a serious and common sense federal marijuana banking bill), are currently dashed since the SAFE Banking Act has been left out of the Senate’s changes to the National Defense Authorization Act (“NDAA“). The impact?
