cannabis M&A

Cannabis M&A: Will California Allow License Transfers?

Cannabis M&A (short for mergers and acquisitions) in California is much more complicated and problematic than in other states. The biggest reason for this is that licenses are not transferrable, which all but eliminates the possibility of asset sales. In turn, this means that deals are much more complicated for both buyer and seller, and

close corporation

What is the Deal with California Close Corporations?

We spill a lot of ink on the Canna Law Blog talking about different types of business entities that cannabis entrepreneurs often use. In most cases though, the choice is between LLC and corporation. It may come as a surprise to some readers that some states have many different subcategories of corporations, including California. Today

cannabis contract

Executing Cannabis Contracts

I spend a LOT of time blogging about the importance of written cannabis contracts as a general concept (most recently here or here). Today I want to talk about something that a lot of people overlook when it comes to cannabis contract drafting: how the contract will actually be signed. You may think this is

cannabis contracts

Don’t Use AI to Write Cannabis Contracts

One of the most persistent and common failures in the cannabis industry is using handshakes instead of written cannabis contracts. This is an issue I’ve written about for years (most recently here), and it doesn’t seem like there has been much of a willingness to change. A lot of companies would like to move into

nondisclosure agreement

Why Nondisclosure Agreements are So Important

Nondisclosure agreements (sometimes abbreviated, “NDAs”) are some of the most important agreements a company can sign. At the same time, they can be some of the simplest agreements to get in place. Today I want to do a deeper dive into nondisclosure agreements, what they contain, and why they are important. What is a nondisclosure

written contract

Five Reasons Written Contracts Beat Handshake Deals

One of the best insurance policies a cannabis business can get is a written contract. Paying a lawyer a little bit up front can save hundreds of thousands when things go south. A lot of folks in the cannabis industry are still doing deals on a handshake basis (you can see some of our older

illegal cannabis

California Gives Up on the Illegal Cannabis Market: An Update

At the beginning of the summer, I wrote a post entitled “California Gives Up on the Illegal Cannabis Market” in which I went into detail about the state’s failure to meaningfully address the festering illegal market. More recently, I wrote about “Another California Cannabis Enforcement Program That Won’t Work.” As the name suggests, this post was

hunter biden

What the Hunter Biden Indictment Means for Cannabis Users

On September 14, 2023, Special Counsel David Weiss of the Department of Justice filed an indictment against Robert Hunter Biden in the District of Delaware. The indictment pleads three counts, which I analyze below. The Hunter Biden indictment centers on issues I’ve analyzed in many posts this year (see links at the bottom). Today I

New York

New York Cannabis: The Retail Dispensary Municipal Notice

New York’s Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act (MRTA) requires anyone applying for a retail dispensary or on-site consumption license to submit a notice of their intention to apply to the municipality (or community board in New York City) at least 30 days prior to submitting the application. The Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) and Cannabis