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
California is on the brink of legalizing hemp-derived cannabidiol (“Hemp CBD”) in many products—well, sort of. The law at issue is Assembly Bill 228 ("AB-228"), and I’ve been writing about it since it was introduced in January 2019 (for my posts on it, see here, here, and here). As of today, it’s made its way
On July 1, Governor Newsom signed into law AB 97 and SB 97, which combined, extend the life and power of provisional cannabis licenses, giving much needed relief to licensees sitting on temporary licenses that were about to expire and/or that are awaiting their provisional licenses to issue in the face of massive red tape
An issue our clients have encountered in a variety of transactions, including basic product purchase transactions and intellectual property licensing transactions, is that the California rules governing commercial cannabis licensees currently do not allow the exchange of free samples between licensees. We are unaware of an industry in which the wholesale purchaser of a large
California’s illicit market for cannabis is booming—not just out in remote grows deep in the wilderness, but also in delivery and even brick-and-mortal retail stores in big cities all over the state. Our California cannabis attorneys regularly receive questions from licensed cannabis companies about what they can do to stay competitive in the face of
California cannabis has a problem: roughly 80% of jurisdictions in the state prohibit cannabis stores of any kind, despite voters approving full legalization with Prop 64 (the Adult Use of Marijuana Act, now the Medicinal and Adult Use Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act, or MAUCRSA) in 2016 by nearly 60%. The result has been “cannabis
The prelude to Phase 3 licensing in the City of L.A. is finally upon us. Today, L.A. will begin accepting applications for Phase 3 social equity applicants for retail and delivery in the City. Specifically, Phase 3 social equity applicants will have from today through July 29th to prove up their Tier 1 or Tier
We have been closely following California's commercial hemp cultivation licensing law since it was proposed last year as Senate Bill 1409 (see here, here, and here). In March, I wrote about some of the roadblocks to implementing SB-1409's commercial hemp cultivation programs, and the lengthy review process of the California Department of Food and Agriculture ("CDFA") regulation which
We've written time and again about the looming terror of Prop. 65 violations for cannabis businesses when it comes to packaging and labeling their products with the correct safe harbor language. The Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986 (a/k/a Prop. 65), requires the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) to publish a
As expected (and as we've written about here), California cities have joined forces to fight the State's regulation allowing delivery of cannabis in every jurisdiction. Here is a copy of the complaint. The lawsuit was filed in Fresno County Superior Court against the California Bureau of Cannabis Control and its chief, Lori Ajax. The local
