I can’t count how many times I have been talking to a client about a business venture, and I stop them in the middle of their explanation and say, “You just issued securities.” I get a blank stare looking back at me. Then I say, “Securities is one thing you do not want to get
For the past 15 years, the global “War on Drugs” has shaped Mexico’s national security landscape. The Mexican government’s offensive against illegal drugs has taken two paths: head-on clashes with the cartels and significant updates to its drug policies. A brief timeline of events specifically affecting cannabis in Mexico is in order. In 2009, Mexico
In the most basic terms, offering fraud occurs when a person (or entity) makes material misrepresentations or omissions to potential investors in a new company (most commonly, promising those investors large “guaranteed” returns on their investments). Offering fraud cases have become more prominent in recent years, and it looks like the U.S. Securities and Exchange
State legal cannabis businesses are used to the specter of the federal government in the rear view mirrors of their lives and businesses. Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know that cannabis remains federally illegal. And it’s not so much the case anymore that the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) or Department of Justice
This is the second post in a two-part series. The first is available here. Last week, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) submitted a CBD enforcement policy to the White House. We do not yet have the text of that document but we anticipate that it will have a significant impact on hemp-derived CBD (Hemp
The Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (2018 Farm Bill) legalized hemp by removing the crop and its derivatives from the definition of marijuana under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) and by providing a detailed framework for the cultivation of hemp. The 2018 Farm Bill gives the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) regulatory authority over hemp
It has been a tough stretch for Portland-based Cura Partners, Inc. (“Cura”) and its parent company, Massachusetts-based Curaleaf Holdings, Inc. (“Curaleaf.”) Cura produces the popular Select brand of THC vaping products and was declared Oregon’s first “cannabis unicorn.” In May of 2019, Cura announced its sale to Curaleaf for more than $1 billion in an
This is the first post in a two-part series. Last week, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) submitted a CBD enforcement policy to the White House. We do not yet have the text of that document but we anticipate that it will have a significant impact on hemp-derived CBD (Hemp CBD) products. In anticipation of
On July 22, 2020, Clint Eastwood filed two separate lawsuits in federal court in Los Angeles against three CBD manufacturers and marketing companies that posted fabricated online articles falsely claiming that Eastwood endorsed CBD products, as well as ten online CBD retailers that allegedly manipulated search results to make it appear that he had endorsed
We regularly represent marijuana businesses that find themselves on the wrong side of an OLCC charging document. The charging document will list the particular rule or rules that the OLCC alleges the licensee has violated and always, in my opinion, lists only the most severe sanctions. The OLCC sanctions schedule is laid out in tiers.
