canna law blog

California Cannabis Distributors and Motor Carrier Permits

Oftentimes in the marijuana industry, licensees forget or don’t believe that existing federal, state, and local laws apply to their cannabis operations. For example, things like ADA and OSHA compliance get overlooked where the thinking can be, “I’m already violating one federal law, so I don’t have to comply with other, existing federal or state

canna law blog

California Cannabis Leasing: Landlord Pitfalls

We’ve written previously about some common issues landlords run into when leasing to cannabis businesses (see links at the bottom of this article). Now that we’ve seen almost a year’s worth of emergency regulations, and the state has released its proposed final regulations, we’ve also seen a variety of cannabis leasing issues crop up. Here

canna law blog

Dirty Dancing: Flips and Tricks of Cannabis Social Equity in L.A.

Phase II cannabis licensing in the City of Los Angeles (for only non-retail activity) kicked off on August 1 at 12 p.m. (and it will conclude on September 13th). To qualify for a City of Los Angeles cannabis license during this timeframe, an applicant must, among other things, be eligible for the City’s cannabis social equity program. This

canna law blog

California Cannabis Leasing: The Normalization of Cannabis Landlords

Almost two years after the passage of Proposition 64, the 2016 California voter initiative to legalize and regulate medicinal and adult-use cannabis, California has begun to finalize its regulations that will govern the largest cannabis market in the country, though that effort has not been without some hiccups and bumps in the road. But, things

canna law blog

Start Your Engines for California Cannabis Recalls

Now that the MAUCRSA transition period is over and full cannabis testing is in the works, we can fully expect California marijuana companies to start engaging in recalls of certain products for a variety of reasons. In fact, a voluntary recall has already been initiated by The Bloom Brand where an impermissible pesticide (Myclobutanil) was

canna law blog

Phase II Licensing and Social Equity in the City of Los Angeles

Cannabis licensing in the City of Los Angeles has been a slow go. Though the City’s Department of Cannabis Regulation (“DCR”) has licensed 155 Existing Medical Marijuana Dispensaries (“EMMDs”) there is still an entire line of existing cultivators and manufacturers, social equity applicants, and general public applicants waiting their turn for cannabis entitlements. The City announced

canna law blog

Hemp-Derived CBD Not Allowed in Food (or Pretty Much Anything Else) in California

Last week, the California Department of Public Health’s Food and Drug Branch (CDPH-FDB) issued a revised FAQ on cannabidiol (CBD) in food products that will likely block the sale of hemp-derived CBD products in California — which if you’ve been in the state lately, are pretty much already everywhere. CDPH-FDB has determined that CBD sourced

canna law blog

California Cannabis Leasing: Federal Enforcement Is Not The Only Concern

The current state of enforcement in California tends to be dominated by headlines about the Department of Justice, Jeff Sessions, the DEA, and the Controlled Substances Act. And for good reason—under the constitution, federal law is the law of the land, and commercial landlords and tenant alike should study federal enforcement guidelines closely. Lease agreements

canna law blog

Industrial Hemp: Don’t Forget About State Law!

As CBD and hemp continue to grow in popularity we are receiving an increasing number of calls and emails from companies that want to distribute hemp across the country. We have written about the legality of hemp and CBD under federal law: DEA Confirms It Cannot Regulate All Parts of the Cannabis Plant Cannabis Taxation:

canna law blog

California Cannabis: Commercial Leasing Changes in New Emergency Regulations

Last Friday, California released another round of emergency regulations that essentially renewed the existing emergency rules, but with some updates, a fair amount of which affect commercial cannabis leasing. Here are some of the notable ones. “Premises” distinctions defined. SB 94 and AB 133, the statutes enacted in 2017 to implement and refine Prop 64,