As foreshadowed by our recent post, on May 3, 2023, New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed cannabis legislation that significantly increases the civil and tax penalties for unlicensed and illicit cannabis sales. The legislation was passed in conjunction with New York budget for the 2024 fiscal year. So what’s included in the new cannabis legislation?
Corporate governance is a basic requirement of any business. So of course, cannabis businesses often just ignore it. Some of them may pay a lawyer to put together a simple set of bylaws and an organizational resolution (or operating agreement for an LLC), and then basically close their files until something “big” comes up. This
A “subpoena” is used in cannabis litigation (or any litigation) when third-party witnesses or documents become necessary for a lawsuit. Over the years, we’ve seen the need for subpoenas come up in a variety of contexts. Below is a primer on what to do as a recipient of one: What is a subpoena? There are
We recently wrote a post entitled, “Cannabis Collections Headaches and What to Do.” In it, she discussed a problem that’s been plaguing California cannabis businesses throughout: distributors and retailers that don’t pay their bills. Towards the end of the article, she mentioned a piece of proposed legislation to address the problem, AB 766, which would
We all know the Oregon cannabis industry is struggling. We write often about the causes on a macro level, possible solutions, and what we see as business litigators. We haven’t written much about one of the basic areas of employment law that applies to Oregon marijuana businesses: workers rights to wages and employer responsibilities. As
On April 13th, I moderated a webinar about cannabis taxes called “IRS Enforcement of Cannabis Operators is Here – What Do We Do Now?“. Cannabis taxes should scare anyone in the industry, but federal incomes taxes under I.R.C. 280E probably take the cake when it comes to general anxiety. Our webinar featured Ani Galyan and
The West Coast cannabis industry is struggling. In this free webinar, cannabis business litigators Jihee Ahn (California; Oregon) and Jesse Mondry (Oregon) will discuss the state of the industry and how depressed market conditions are affecting those considering litigation or alternative dispute-resolution options. Tune in Tuesday, May 16th at 10am PT for a conversation covering
I wanted to drop a line today on an interesting piece of cannabis legislation moving through the Oregon session. The draft bill at issue is omnibus SB 353 (most recent mark-up here). This is a very different SB 353 than its placeholder from back in January when I published our annual Legislative Forecast and Report.
In an era of Theranos, Fyre Fest, FTX and WeWork, cannabis scams, frauds, and scandals probably pale in comparison. However, cannabis scams (and their evolution) are still worth noting, spotting, and avoiding at all costs. I’ve written about cannabis scams in the past (see here), and it’s one of my favorite topics given the still-emerging
On this hallowed 4/20, while consumers and businesses celebrate cannabis near and far (which is great!), it’s important to be mindful that the cannabis industry is getting financially pummeled nationwide. For the cannabis companies able to survive this rocky time, cannabis collections are becoming an increasing headache as other cannabis businesses fold and/or just ignore
