canna law blog

The Commerce Clause and Medical Marijuana: Gonzales v. Raich, 545 U.S. 1 (2005)

California voters passed Proposition 215 in 1996, allowing qualified patients to cultivate and use marijuana for designated medical illnesses and conditions. Though this permits cannabis cultivation and use in California, anything related to cannabis remains illegal under the federal Controlled Substances Act (CSA). Angel Raich, a qualified medical cannabis patient, who was provided cannabis for medical use

canna law blog

Producing Cannabis Extracts in California is a Risky Business

On January 28, 2016, San Diego police narcotics officers along with the San Diego Fire-Rescue Hazmat Unit raided MedWest Distribution, a California manufacturer of concentrated cannabis extracts, also commonly known in the marijuana community as “hash oil,” “honey,” “wax” or “shatter.” Cannabis extracts are produced through complicated methods of extracting cannabinoids (like THC and CBD)

canna law blog

State of Cannabis: Not-So-Sweet Home Alabama

This is number four in our series ranking the fifty states on cannabis from worst to best. This is our fourth in the series. Idaho was last week, ranking as the third worst state for cannabis. This week we head to the heart of Dixie, where good marijuana laws are severely lacking, but especially in Alabama. Alabama Criminal Law. Marijuana

canna law blog

Marijuana and the Federal Trade Commission: When Will the Giant Awake from Its Slumber?

It’s no secret that in the wake of the 2013 Cole Memo federal agencies greatly vary in how they treat marijuana businesses. The Department of Justice has opted to “stand down” for now in those states with “robust state marijuana regulations.” The Internal Revenue Service will not relent on enforcing section 280e against cannabis businesses, even though to do

canna law blog

The Trouble with Section 280E and Marijuana Businesses

When it comes to marijuana and taxes, there is no bigger buzzword than “280E.” However, there is still a lot of confusion about what exactly 280E is and does. In reality, section 280E is a single sentence of the Internal Revenue Code. It states: “No deduction or credit shall be allowed for any amount paid

canna law blog

Marijuana Product Recall Plans: Get Yours in Place Now

If 2015 was the year of the marijuana recall, 2016 is going to be the year of marijuana recall response and planning. If your cannabis business does not already have a recall plan in place you are already behind the eight ball as the need to quickly pull cannabis products off the shelf is happening with increasing

canna law blog

Marijuana Ads in the Mail Are a No Go

We’ve previously written about how First Amendment free speech rights intersect with advertising for marijuana. We’ve also written about how a Colorado television station pulled the plug on a marijuana television commercial over concerns about violating federal broadcast regulations. We have also apprised everyone of how multiple social media platforms are #SorryNotSorry for shutting down pages

canna law blog

Cannabis IP Licensing: It’s Complicated

Whether they realize it or not, every single one of my law firm’s cannabis clients owns some sort of intellectual property. And for those clients who do realize it, most of them seek not only to protect it, but to exploit and monetize it. Even our clients without well-developed brands are regularly solicited by companies

canna law blog

Oregon Marijuana Production: Terms, Tiers and Really Big Grows

Under Oregon’s new recreational marijuana program, many of the people we used to call marijuana growers will soon become licensed “producers.” The medical program growers will still be “growers,” unless they apply to become producers, in which case those producers would remain subject to OHA grow site limitations (that is, unless the producer-licensed premises ceases

canna law blog

Foreign Investors in the U.S. Cannabis Industry Face Their Own Special Risks

The cannabis industry has always been international. Our first cannabis client was actually a Dutch company that hired us years before either Colorado or Washington had legalized. This client hired us to figure out what it would need to do as a foreign company investing in a U.S. cannabis business in a cannabis industry which