Due to the federal illegality of cannabis, cannabis businesses don’t receive normal treatment from the federal government (with maybe one or two exceptions, like the NLRB and the 2014 FinCEN guidance for access to financial institutions). This obviously mucks up the ability of a cannabis business to operate in a consistent and reliable way, and
Over the years, we’ve pointed out when federal agencies opt to ignore the federal illegality of cannabis. It happens more often than you might think depending on the topic (see, for example, the NLRB). One agency, though, that has surprisingly never lifted a finger against state-legal cannabis–though it is taking a closer look at CBD–is
The California legislature is considering a new law (AB-1639) that, if passed, would restrict how cannabis vape products are made and sold. AB-1639 would change California law for tobacco and cannabis businesses (for the purposes of this post, we’ll just focus on the cannabis side of the law), and would effectively prohibit almost any kind
Congratulations to Senator Kamala Harris, Joe Biden’s V.P. pick. Harris will become the first Black woman and the first person of Indian descent to be nominated for national office by a major party. It’s a huge accomplishment. It could also impact the race significantly in the coming weeks and months. What would a Vice President
For the past 15 years, the global “War on Drugs” has shaped Mexico’s national security landscape. The Mexican government’s offensive against illegal drugs has taken two paths: head-on clashes with the cartels and significant updates to its drug policies. A brief timeline of events specifically affecting cannabis in Mexico is in order. In 2009, Mexico
For those of you familiar with the Philippines, you know that “President Rodrigo Duterte” and “war on drugs” are two parts of the same phrase. In the first two years of his presidency, Duterte sanctioned the killing of over 10,000 Filipinos who were connected in any way to the drug trade. But you might be
The City of Los Angeles is no stranger to change and struggle around its local cannabis industry. Since the passage of Proposition M back in 2017, the City has made great strides but also suffered significant setbacks in building its licensed cannabis marketplace. Even through the COVID-19 pandemic, this trend continues for Los Angeles and
Anyone who knows me knows that I really enjoy sports of all kinds. I was a college soccer player and played competitive club soccer in Florida before that from the age of 7 onward (and I now play in an adult co-ed league in Los Angeles). Unfortunately, COVID-19 has put the damper on watching live
In my ten years of advising and guiding cannabis companies from a corporate, transactional, and M&A perspective, and especially since 2012 (when Washington and Colorado legalized), every cannabis market in which I’ve worked has experienced a period of extensive business failures, consolidations, and market stress. And it’s that time now for California cannabis (and that
At 5:30 p.m. yesterday, California Governor Gavin Newsom took a giant step forward in preventing the spread of COVID-19 by enacting a “Stay At Home” order (the “Order”) across the state, mandating that California state residents remain in their homes, except to fulfill “essential” needs. The Order is in place seemingly indefinitely as Newsom would
