Individuals and companies looking to join the Oregon cannabis market often ask us lawyers whether we know of any licenses for sale. Some of these requests come from states like Washington, where licenses are no longer being issued and are frequently bought and sold. Others come from outside the regulated marijuana space altogether, from people
Residency requirements are used to award rights or privileges to residents of a state in favor of non-residents. Though they’ve long been used by colleges to provide discounted tuition to in-state residents, they’re appearing more recently as a tool states use in the cannabis industry to benefit their own residents. For businesses looking to expand
Given the onslaught of media pieces lately on celebrity cannabis brands, this would be a good time to enumerate branding issues faced by cannabis business owners, and to discuss how celebrity branding is different. There are three main ways a brand owner can establish trademark rights: By using the mark in connection with their goods or
In state level marijuana programs, compliance is king. Last week we wrote about the final, permanent rules for the Oregon Liquor Control Commission’s (OLCC) recreational marijuana program. In that post, we mentioned that all cannabis business employees must hold a marijuana worker permit, not just retail employees. We also mentioned that information about the permit
In most states with legal cannabis, an illegal cannabis market still flourishes. In many of those states, a large chunk of growing, processing, selling and buying still occurs outside the regulatory system. The illegal market for cannabis stretches across the nation and impacts both states with and without legal cannabis. Before legalization, all cannabis was
This past Friday I chaired a “Medical and Recreational Marijuana in Southern California” seminar in Santa Monica. During the seminar, Governor Brown signed into law the three bills that comprise the California Medical Marijuana Regulation and Safety Act (MMRSA). Needless to say, this was big news for all of us at the seminar. This is
The Oregon Liquor Control Commission (OLCC) finally issued its draft rules yesterday for Oregon’s recreational marijuana program. The rules weigh in at a hefty 70 pages and you can find them here. In an accompanying release, the OLCC cautioned that “draft rule language is subject to change and should NOT be used as basis for
On July 31, 2015, the New York State Department of Health awarded five licenses for medical marijuana cultivation, processing, and distribution authorized by the state’s Compassionate Care Act that went into effect on July 5, 2014. These five license recipients now have a deadline of January 5, 2016, or eighteen months from the date the law
We’re starting to see a distinct trend with state-sanctioned marijuana operational licenses: the “pay-to-play, greatest barrier to entry” model. In this sort of system, there is usually some combination of the following, all geared towards reducing the number of cannabis businesses actually granted a license and towards making sure that those with licenses are very well-funded:
Here in New York, it feels like we are (finally) off to the races. The New York State Department of Health recently posted the application for medical marijuana manufacturers and dispensaries, with two very important deadlines. The first is a May 5 at 4:00pm EST deadline to submit any questions to the Department regarding the application.
