The recent arrest in Russia of WNBA player Brittney Griner highlights the perils of traveling with cannabis products. For those not familiar with the matter, Griner was detained after Russian Customs “allegedly found vape cartridges containing cannabis in her luggage.” At the onset, it must be noted that Griner’s arrest comes at a time of
I wrote recently about cannabis NFTs (see here) and tokenization of cannabis assets (see here). This post covers cannabis DAOs (Decentralized Autonomous Organizations) within the industry space (“DAO” is pronounced like “dow”). Web3: cannabis DAOs, cryptocurrencies, NFTs, and smart contracts If you have been paying attention, you know at least something about Bitcoin, which is
The 2022 Oregon legislative session was huge for Oregon cannabis. It adjourned sine die on Friday, March 4. We’ve been writing about it all the while, and you can find previous coverage in the links at the bottom of this blog post. Today I’ll cover the four marquee pieces of new legislation and talk about
The California Department of Cannabis Control (“DCC”) is undertaking new cannabis rulemaking pursuant to the Medicinal and Adult-Use Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act. Unlike other states, California hasn’t implemented sweeping changes to its cannabis regulations with immense impacts on the industry. Instead, it has adopted a series of emergency rules with substantive changes here and
Last week, the TTAB, or Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, refused to register AgrotecHemp Corp.’s “PUREXXXCBD” as a trademark for dietary supplements containing cannabidiol because the product was unlawful. Specifically, AgrotecHemp sought registration for goods identified as: “Plant extracts for pharmaceutical purposes; vitamins; dietary supplements; all of the foregoing containing CBD solely derived from hemp
Since launching our Web3 practice group, we have been getting steady inquiries regarding cannabis and web3 crossover. In this post, I focus on the tokenization of cannabis business assets, which often occurs through ICOs (initial coin offerings). This is currently an unsettled area of law in the U.S., and we do not recommend trying to
The Oregon Senate passed HB 4016 yesterday afternoon, enacting a sweeping moratorium on new cannabis licenses in the state. The law will take effect on an “emergency” basis following Governor Brown’s signature, or 30 days from now if she doesn’t veto (and she won’t). Industry got what it wanted here; the walls are going up. HB 4016
Listen HERE or stream on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Stitcher, or Soundcloud! At Harris Sliwoski, we keep close tabs on what is happening around the world, and we know that our friends and clients do, as well. We are happy to provide this podcast series: Global Law and Business, hosted by international attorneys Fred Rocafort and Jonathan Bench, where we look at the world
All U.S. businesses are marijuana related businesses (MRBs). By “all” I mean everyone from Amazon to your local hardware store, with very few exceptions. Allow me to explain. Guidance on banking and MRBs Over eight years ago, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network published the FinCen Memorandum of February 14, 2014 (“FinCen Memo”). FinCen is a Bureau
What will happen with cannabis trademarks after federal legalization? This question comes up regularly, but unfortunately lacks a clear answer (or even an unclear answer). On the one hand, with cannabis no longer unlawful at the federal level, USPTO will be able to register trademarks for cannabis products. But beyond that, nothing is clear. Whose
