Here we are at the end of 2020 (thank goodness!), which means it’s time for the fifth annual “State of the State” post on Oregon cannabis. The year 2020 was remarkable for the Oregon cannabis industry, mostly due to COVID and its effects, including record sales on the THC side. But there were also key
The Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (2018 Farm Bill) removed hemp and its derivatives from the definition of marijuana under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) and provided a detailed framework for the cultivation of hemp. The 2018 Farm Bill also gave the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) regulatory authority over hemp cultivation at the federal
We love our clients. From mom-and-pop shops to multinational corporations, most of them run solid operations and behave themselves pretty well. But when you have hundreds of clients and thousands of transactions over many years in the cannabis industry, you see some crazy things. This list covers crazy things have happened in Oregon. This is
Last month, along with streamlined licensing, the Oregon Liquor Control Commission (OLCC) announced a significant (and welcome) change to its compliance function by instituting a new Verification of Compliance program (VOC) that will focus on education rather than penalties for certain types of marijuana rule violations. The VOC launched in early October and arose from
The Oregon secondary market for cannabis licenses and businesses remains lively. We have been helping industry buy and sell these businesses since 2016. This post is mostly about pricing for retail plays, which is still an evolving standard, but a standard nonetheless. First, some context. Over the past few years, there have been two significant
People have been complaining about Oregon Liquor Control Commission (OLCC) marijuana licensing bottlenecks for a long time. And rightfully so. New license applications are effectively suspended (and have been for over two years), while delays in approval requests for investment intake, ownership changes and business sales make these standard business activities extremely challenging in many
In a word, yes. A lawsuit recently filed in Jackson County, Oregon by a tenant alleges that his landlord has wrongfully evicted him from a warehouse containing 36,000 pounds of hemp, which the plaintiff alleges will be worth $1.5 million when processed, and 500 pounds of trimmed flower with a market value of $175,000. (Marks
Wildfires are ravaging Oregon, Washington and California. They are truly terrible. Here in Oregon, a full 500,000 residents have been evacuated as I write this blog post on the evening of September 9. Portland smells like burning ash and the suburbs are in evacuation protocols. It’s awful even here. For the cannabis industry, things look
Buying and selling Oregon cannabis properties can be pretty interesting. We have helped negotiate and paper a ton of these sales going back to 2015 or so. The deal book includes everything from small commercial lots in the City of Portland (for retail dispensaries) to large sawmill properties in Southern Oregon (for hemp processing conversion).
The officers, directors, partners, members and managers of cannabis companies need to understand what constitutes a “security” and how to comply with applicable securities laws. The failure to do so may result in their personal liability for securities fraud. Let’s start with what constitutes a “security.” As my colleague Jonathan Bench recently explained in layperson’s
