A very big congratulations to a longtime Oregon cannabis client, and to our trial team, which just won a decisive, hard-fought victory in a nine-day jury trial in Portland, Oregon, led by Harris Sliwoski attorney Jesse Mondry. This complex case concerned the failed merger of 26 California and Oregon cannabis companies. Harris Sliwoski’s client is
People in the cannabis industry know that marijuana is federally classified as a schedule I controlled substance. Schedule I means the drug has no recognized medical value, has a high potential for abuse, and cannot be safely administered even under a doctor’s supervision. Other schedule I drugs include heroin, methamphetamine, and several psychedelic substances including
On Tuesday, September 6, 2022, a Rules Advisory Committee (RAC) of the Oregon Liquor & Cannabis Commission (OLCC) had its first meeting to discuss amendments to the administrative rules governing licensed marijuana businesses. Specifically, the RAC met to discuss new, proposed rules that would reclassify marijuana violations. This post discusses some of the proposed reclassification
Published in Law360 on August 30, 2022. © Copyright 2022, Portfolio Media, Inc., publisher of Law360. Reprinted here with permission. A recently filed cannabis case in Oregon, Drops LLC v. La Mota LLC, demonstrates pleading of two forms of the alter ego theory of liability. Most lawyers and business owners know that one of the
Around this time last year, my colleague, Jesse Mondry, wrote about a District of Colorado case, entitled Sensoria, LLC et al. v. Kaweske, et al. , which involved a group of plaintiffs who sought to recover their investment in a cannabis business, Clover Top Holdings. The underlying set of facts involve an all-too-familiar cannabis investment
I'm guilty of dunking on the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in the past for not doing more to protect cannabis consumers, despite the current federal illegality of cannabis. That may be changing, at least with respect to CBD consumers. Before diving into this latest development, I should mention that historically, cannabis is treated differently from
Last summer, the Massachusetts based retailer Curaleaf mistakenly mixed-up THC with CBD at a bottling plant in Portland. Approximately 1,500 mislabeled bottles containing what the Oregonian describes as a “jumbo” dose of THC were shipped under the brand name Select and sold as containing only CBD. Although many of the bottles were recalled at the
On August 17, the First Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the the holding of the US District Court for the District of Maine that the residency requirements of Maine’s Medical Use Marijuana Act violate the Dormant Commerce Clause (“DCC”). The First Circuit has added itself to the list of jurisdictions that have invalidated similar state
A final judgment recently rendered in WM. Wrigley Jr. Company v. Roberto Conde, et al., is nothing short of a cautionary tale and a powerful reminder to cannabis companies: Parody is NOT a defense to trademark infringement in this type of commercial context. The parties We all know Wrigley – it’s a titan in the
Cannabis Alter Ego Liability: When Separate Companies Stop Being Separate Forming an LLC or corporation ordinarily shields its owners from the company’s debts. Cannabis operators often take that protection further by using separate entities for different stores, licenses, properties, and business lines. In many states, licensing rules and real estate arrangements make some version of
