Mexico medical CANNAbis

Medical Cannabis is Fully Legal in Mexico: Now What?

On Thursday, January 28, we will be hosting a FREE hour-long webinar discussing the business side of medical and recreational cannabis in Mexico. REGISTER TODAY!   In our last post, we alerted you on the publication of the new Regulations on Sanitary Control for the Production, Research and Medical Use of Cannabis and Its Pharmacological Derivatives (the “Medical Regulations”). In

usda hemp final rule

USDA Hemp Final Rule: Hits and Misses

Last Friday, January 15th, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (the “USDA”) announced today’s publication of its hemp production final rule in the Federal Register, which will go into effect on March 22, 2021. This final rule builds on the interim final rule (the “IFR”) that was published on October 31, 2019. It includes revisions based

MLK

MLK Day: Cannabis and Civil Rights

It has become an annual MLK Day tradition here at Canna Law Blog to remind our readers that, first and foremost, cannabis is a civil rights issue. We’ve explained why here, here, here and here. The past year ushered in some promising developments, from progress with the MORE Act, to state and local developments on social equity licensing measures, to increased

california cbd

California Tries Again with CBD

California has a rocky history when it comes to hemp-derived CBD. Despite the fact that the state adopted a robust medical and recreational cannabis program, for years it has taken the mystifying position that many kinds of hemp-derived products simply can’t be sold. Essentially, foods, beverages, and dietary supplements are a no-go according to the

ecuador hemp cannabis

Ecuador’s Hemp Regulations

MAG Hemp Regulations In October, Ecuador’s agriculture ministry (MAG) released hemp regulations, in the form of Acuerdo Ministerial No. 109 (English). This follows the National Assembly’s 2019 decriminalization of cannabis with a THC content of less than 1.0% THC (which entered into forced on June 21, 2020). The regulations distinguish between industrial hemp (cáñamo para

dispensary valuation

Oregon Cannabis: What is My Partial Marijuana Dispensary Ownership Interest Worth?

A couple of months ago, my colleague Vince Sliwoski wrote Oregon Cannabis Dispensary Sales: What We Are Seeing on Valuation, which focused on the secondary market for cannabis licenses and businesses. Vince explained that the retail market, i.e. the purchase and sale of dispensaries, is still mostly done on multiples of revenue. But what is

CBD Smokeables

The Future for Smokable CBD Products is Not Great

The last few years have been a wild ride for the United States’ hemp-derived cannabidiol (CBD) industry. Ever since the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) took the position that CBD is unlawful in many consumer products, the industry has faced many questions about what it can and cannot do. To add fuel to this fire,

Hemp Banking

Hemp Banking for Credit Unions: Five Key Questions

One of the coolest things we’ve done here at Harris Sliwoski was work with the National Credit Union Association on its June 2020 guidance for servicing hemp-related businesses. Back when we first started working with small, Northwest credit unions in 2014 and 2015 (on the THC banking side) we never imagined being hired one day

California Cannabis

California Cannabis: What to Watch for in 2021

It goes without saying, but 2020 was a pretty wild year for the California cannabis and hemp industries. We think 2021 will be a pretty active year and want to list out some things to watch out for as we kick off the new year. Agency Consolidation: It was announced in January 2020 that California’s

Hemp CBDLegislation WillCongressBoosttheHempTotalTHClimitto%

Hemp-CBD Legislation: Will Congress Boost the Hemp Total THC limit to 1%?

As reported by Hemp Grower magazine, Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky introduced legislation on December 15 that would amend the definition of hemp from .3% THC to 1% THC. The bill would also make other major changes to the USDA’s interim final rule, which would affect hemp growers, processors, manufacturers, and shippers. The legislation is