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
Across practices, we are seeing the internet turn into a menace for businesses dealing with law enforcement and regulatory agencies. Risks are present for entities of all stripes, but cannabis businesses in particular need to beware of the Internet and what it says about them. If the Internet says so, it must be drug paraphernalia
Here’s a scenario our cannabis lawyers and litigation team have experienced countless times: A client calls and wants to take immediate action for breach of a cannabis contract. They want to terminate the contract. Or evict a tenant. Or file a lawsuit. The first question I always ask these clients is whether the contract contains
Socially responsible and “sustainable” investing is picking up in popularity across retail and institutional investors alike. According to Wikipedia, “[i]n less than 20 years, the ESG movement has grown from a corporate social responsibility initiative launched by the United Nations into a global phenomenon representing more than US$30 trillion in assets under management.” When it
Germany stands to become the next of shockingly few countries that have approved full legalization of adult-use cannabis, joining Canada and Uruguay (and a number of US states. The societal benefits of adult-use legalization in Germany are obvious (and similar to those in the US): an estimated €4.7 billion benefit to the German economy, which includes the cost savings of cannabis-related criminal enforcement and incarceration as well as generated taxes.
On November 18, 2021, the Greater Phoenix Urban League and Acre 41 Enterprises, LLC (the “Plaintiffs”), sued the State of Arizona, the Arizona Department of Health Services (the “Department”), Governor Ducey, and the Director of the Department for their purported failure to implement the social equity provisions of Proposition 207 by issuing final regulations that
Last Friday, I spoke on a panel for the American Bar Association (ABA) in Denver. It was the first conference for the ABA’s new Global Cannabis section and the first live event I’ve done since COVID started. The panel discussed “Legal Ethics in International Cannabis.” My colleague Adams Lee participated too, but on another panel
On the 25th anniversary of Prop. 215, I was recently interviewed on KCRW to give my take on how California (and specifically the City of Los Angeles) has done when it comes to legalizing and licensing cannabis businesses. I’m a pretty tough critic of California in general if you read any of my writings on
