canna law blog

What Can Appellations Do For Small Cannabis?

The Mendocino Appellations Project is one of the best cannabis branding ideas we’ve heard in a while. According to the Ukiah Daily Journal, “[s]ome farmers in the Emerald Triangle, seeking to reserve the name recognition the crop has brought to the region for decades, are turning towards establishing regional appellations to protect the unique culture

canna law blog

State of Cannabis: North Dakota is Cold on Cannabis

This is proving to be a big year for cannabis. As a result, we are ranking the fifty states from worst to best on how they treat cannabis and those who consume it. Each of our State of Cannabis posts will analyze one state and our final post will crown the best state for cannabis. As is

canna law blog

Breaking News: Feds Announce They Will (FINALLY) Drop Harborside Forfeiture Case

In a major turn of events today, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that it will  finally drop its four-year long legal battle against Harborside Health Center (and its landlords) to seize the commercial properties in which Harborside operates in Oakland and San Jose, California. The DOJ’s opting to dismiss its own case before going to trial

A person working in weed, wearing a hat, examines a cannabis plant in what appears to be an indoor cultivation facility.

Working in Weed: Labor and Employment Issues in the Cannabis Industry

This post is about a panel discussion at the University of Washington School of Law called “Working in Weed”, that was held on On April 26, 2016. The discussion focused on employment and labor issues in the cannabis industry. The panelists were as follows: Lea Vaughn, Professor of Law at UW, with an expertise in

canna law blog

They Said It On Marijuana, Quotable Saturday, Part CVIII

Though we vociferously maintain that cannabis should be legalized for all purposes, author Steven Gould makes an important point here: medical marijuana is still kept from those that could significantly benefit from it and that is often done because people oppose its recreational use. Many families have had to move to another state simply because one

canna law blog

Marijuana Patents: Fear, Loathing, and Beating Monsanto

Some of you may have noticed that on the day before 4/20 this year, Monsanto tweeted the following public service announcement: Tomorrow is 4/20. FYI: Monsanto has not & is not working on GMO marijuana. We address other Monsanto myths here: http://monsanto.info/23XSjum  But what about in the future? Is Monsanto GMO marijuana a possibility? That’s

canna law blog

The Top 10 Things You Need to Know to Start a Cannabis Business in Oregon

This is the second installment on our state by state series on “The Top Ten Things You Need to Know to Start a Cannabis Business.” Our first entry, on Washington, is here. Today’s entry covers Oregon, a pot friendly state with two separate programs: a recreational marijuana program run by the Oregon Liquor Control Commission (OLCC),

canna law blog

The Top Ten Things You Need to Know to Start a Cannabis Business in Washington

This is our first installment in what will be an intermittent state by state series on “The Top Ten Things to Know to Start a Cannabis Business.” We figured we would start with Washington State because that is where our cannabis business lawyers got their start back in 2010. Washington recently combined its medical and

canna law blog

Your Marijuana Business: What’s it Worth?

So you went and started a cannabis business. Congratulations! Now, here’s a question for you: what’s it worth? And if you don’t mind us asking: how did you make that determination? Is it supportable? Recently, we have written about the future of cannabis funding and the basics of investment rounds. The valuation question looms large

canna law blog

Coats v. Dish Network and Firing Employees for Cannabis

On June 7, 2010 Dish Networks LLC fired Brandon Coats for violating the company’s drug policy  after a random drug test showed Coats was using marijuana. Coats is a quadriplegic who has been confined to a wheelchair since he was a teenager. He started working at Dish in 2007 as a telephone customer service representative. In