When it comes to ending federal prohibition, some public officials are do-ers, and other are talkers. Here in Oregon, we are lucky enough to have Congressman Earl Blumenauer, who is a relentless advocate for ending prohibition. Blumenauer helped found the Congressional Cannabis Caucus, and appended his name to the Rohrabacher-Blumenauer Amendment (RBA), which prohibits the
We recently wrote that we are working on a substantial number of merger and acquisition deals regarding Oregon marijuana businesses. One question that comes up in these deals, without exception, is how the Oregon Liquor Control Commission (OLCC) license acquisition process works for the incoming party. This is because licensing is a fundamental sale consideration: no
It’s finally happening — Attorney General Jeff Sessions will, today, rescind the 2013 Cole Memo regarding federal enforcement in states that legalized cannabis. The Cole Memo, which came on the heels of marijuana legalization in Colorado and Washington back in 2012, set forth the Obama administration’s enforcement policies regarding state-legal marijuana. It set out eight
Even though the Medicinal and Adult-Use Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act (“MAUCRSA“) stripped distributors of massive amounts of power, they are still relevant and 100% necessary if cultivators and manufacturers want to get their products to retailers. Why? There are three primary reasons: Distributors are the only license type that can transport marijuana products and they’re also the
On December 22, 2017, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (“The Act”) otherwise known as PL-115-97, was signed into law. The Act is the most significant overhaul of the U.S. Tax Code since 1986 and is effective beginning in 2018. Accordingly, cannabis businesses need to understand now how the new tax law affects their business.
On December 22, the Oregon Liquor Control Commission (OLCC) adopted a large packet of rules amendments that incorporate the many cannabis bills signed by Oregon Governor Kate Brown, as well as “technical amendments [made] in response to market realities.” These changes, effective December 28, 2017, include: implementation of mandatory seed-to-sale tracking for medical cannabis; a new
Our Seattle office often receives calls from entrepreneurs who want to operate in Washington’s thriving recreational cannabis market. Washington is not currently accepting applications for new cannabis licenses which means there are a finite number of licenses available. This leaves one option for entrepreneurs who want to operate their own Washington’s cannabis business: buy an existing
Beginning January 1, California employers with five or more employees will be prohibited from asking about an applicant’s conviction history and cannot consider an applicant’s criminal history until after a conditional job offer has been made. A conditional job offer is an offer made contingent on the completion of a background check. Only after the
A little over a year ago, I put together a State of the State blog post on Oregon cannabis. At that time, the rules were rolling out in a business-friendly manner, many of our clients were proceeding toward licensure, and the market did not feel saturated. Today, the first two items remain true, but the
When it comes to cultivation, one of the biggest developments in California’s new emergency cannabis regulations has to do with something conspicuously missing from the rules: a cap on the amount of land a licensee can cultivate for medicinal or adult-use cannabis. While 2016’s Adult Use of Marijuana Act (Prop. 64) and subsequent SB 94 made
