Washington Cannabis Licensing: What Buyers Need to Know We get questions about Washington cannabis licensing all the time. The first question is usually whether new licenses are even available. For most buyers, the answer is no. Washington is a capped market, which means entry usually depends on buying or investing in an existing licensed business.
Minnesota continues to refine its cannabis framework with an Omnibus Cannabis Bill affecting licensed cannabis (marijuana) businesses, hemp operators and medical patients. The new package was signed by Governor Waltz last week. Some of the changes are effective immediately, while others take effect January 1, 2027. It’s common for state cannabis programs to evolve through
The Minnesota cannabis program is online and rolling out slowly. Too slowly, in this writer’s humble opinion. That said, a handful of tribal dispensaries have been operating since 2023, and adult use sales at non-tribal shops began in September 2025. To the good, sales are ticking up each month. In April, the Office of Cannabis
It’s been a while since we wrote a “brass tacks” post on Oregon cannabis licensing. This blog post will cover some FAQs, from the perspective of an attorney who has worked on hundreds of these deals, since the very first licenses were transferred. Is OLCC issuing new marijuana licenses? Yes, but on a “one in
Cannabis law continues to live in constitutional limbo. States like Washington and California have built robust, tightly regulated cannabis markets, while federal law still treats marijuana as contraband. That tension has now collided head‑on with one of the Constitution’s most powerful doctrines: the Dormant Commerce Clause. Just recently, in January 2026, the Ninth Circuit weighed
Minnesota is the latest state to develop a secondary market for cannabis license sales. I’d call the Minnesota market “robust”, except that the Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) hasn’t issued all that many licenses in the first place. Still, one source recently estimated “at least 80” licenses recently posted for sale. It’s a real thing.
We continue to represent myriad buyers and sellers of OLCC marijuana licenses. At any given time, we are running 10-12 of these transactions, and sometimes more, as we have for many years. Recently, there have been a few changes worth noting, particularly as to the OLCC protocols. I’ll touch briefly on other market dynamics, too.
We have been on the Minnesota cannabis bandwagon for a while. Like a lot of programs, this one has been slow to roll out, and not without its share of hiccups. That said, it’s not New York, and I still firmly believe that Minnesota could be a great cannabis state. In this post, I’ll give
Effective August 1, 2025, the New Mexico Environmental Department (NMED) issued emergency amendments to New Mexico’s Hemp extraction, production, transportation, warehousing, and testing administrative code. These amendments were created to address concerns with the production and use of synthetic hemp cannabinoids found in finished products. The primary goal of NMED appears to be the protection
Cannabis intellectual property (IP) licensing deals can be complicated, presenting unique issues. Many companies expect the biggest hurdle to be state cannabis law compliance. Although this is certainly a major concern, it’s important to start with the brand licensing fundamentals by analyzing the validity and strength of the IP itself. With any licensing deal, the
