Cannabis businesses are usually limited liability companies (LLCs). There are a lot of reasons for this, starting with the fact that LLCs are more flexible than corporations, which have much more rigid rules. To take advantage of those flexibilities, and for a lot of other reasons, LLC owners (called members) need an operating agreement. Below,
Data reveal a concerning increase in violent crime in many U.S. cities during COVID in 2020 and 2021. Increasingly, cannabis businesses, particularly dispensaries, are targets for robbery or other criminal activity. The reason that cannabis businesses are being hit particularly hard is not hard to fathom. Federal law still treats cannabis as a Schedule I
Is the lawful use requirement for trademarks lawful? In a recent Vanderbilt Law Review article, Robert A. Mikos compellingly argues that it is not. The article is a must-read for anyone interested in the topic of cannabis trademarks, but highlights a problem that goes far beyond cannabis, and indeed trademark law. For those unfamiliar with
On March 7, Oregon law makers passed Senate Bill 1564 (SB 1564) which empowers counties to impose hemp moratoriums within their jurisdictions. To impose a hemp moratorium, a county must simply declare a state of emergency related to cannabis and notify the Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA) of the declaration and request that the ODA
I’ve spent considerable time explaining the law regarding religious use of psychedelics on the Psychedelics Law Blog lately. A lot of that same law applies equally to cannabis. Naturally, I want to answer a similar question here: are cannabis churches legal? The answer is that they are basically “legal” in the same sense that cannabis
Demand letters are valuable tools for creating records, dispute resolution, and much more. But, they can backfire and lead to liability for the sender and even its attorney for threats or demands that are legally improper. Today, we’ll cover some of the basics of when demand letters go too far. What is the purpose of
New York retailers should not “gift” cannabis to avoid putting at risk their ability to secure a license and avoid penalties
Many cannabis companies are thinking about creative ways to pivot into the developing psychedelics market. One of the questions I hear most frequently hear is whether this is a good idea. It’s one thing for companies to leave cannabis altogether and go full tilt into the psychedelics space. But mixing cannabis and psychedelics into one
From startups to multi-state operators, most cannabis businesses will engage legal counsel at some point. All of these companies – but especially smaller ones or less experienced ones – need to grapple with the question of what the role of a lawyer in cannabis deals will be. This can be a difficult question to answer.
The War on Drugs was a failure. It did not stop the drug trade. It just grew the prison system. The War on Cannabis continues through aggressive state and local enforcement and prohibition measures with no end in sight. And we have a massive illicit market. This is all very bad and we collectively need
