canna law blog

Breaking News: Industrial Hemp Legalization is Happening!

Update: The 2018 Farm Bill was just approved by the House. It now heads to President Trump’s Desk.  At long last, it’s finally happening: The 2018 Farm Bill has made it out of conference and been approved by the Senate. It currently awaits approval from the House, which is expected this week. If Donald Trump

canna law blog

Ninth Circuit Agrees with Montana: Employees Can Be Fired for Off-Work Marijuana Use

Medical marijuana is legal in Montana. Unfortunately, that does not prevent local employers from terminating workers for legal, off-work use of marijuana in the state. In 2010, while already employed by Charter Communications, LLC, Lance Carlson was issued a medical marijuana card under Montana Medical Marijuana Act to treat chronic low back and stomach pain.

Oregon and Psilocybin: Does the Approved Ballot Measure Language Stand a Chance?

Oregon and Psilocybin: Does the Approved Ballot Measure Language Stand a Chance?

Back in August, I covered the landmark Food and Drug Administration (FDA) drug trial approval for psilocybin, the naturally occurring, psychedelic ingredient found in around 200 species of mushrooms. I speculated that if everything goes well, we could see an approved psilocybin drug hit the market sometime in the next 5 to 10 years. I

Anti-Competitive Alert? Marijuana Slotting Fee and Pay-to-Stay Contracts in California

Anti-Competitive Alert? Marijuana Slotting Fee and Pay-to-Stay Contracts in California

With the roll out of the Medicinal and Adult-Use Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act (“MAUCRSA“), our California cannabis attorneys see all kinds of agreements between and among licensees. From IP licensing to white labeling to distribution contracts, we’re beginning to see people emerge from the shadows and enter into written agreements with each other, which

canna law blog

Oregon Cities and Counties Continue to Refine Cannabis Rules

We always talk about the cannabis industry being dynamic. That’s true from a markets perspective and it’s true from a regulatory point of view. When it comes to regulations in particular, industry observers tend to focus on the big picture developments: e.g., whether marijuana will finally be re- or de-scheduled at the federal level, whether

canna law blog

California Cannabis Landlords: More Regulatory Snags to Avoid

We’ve previously written about some of the pitfalls for landlords to avoid when leasing to commercial cannabis tenants in California. We’ve also written about how the state’s recently proposed modifications to its final cannabis regulations could affect licensees and the industry writ large (see here and here). The comment period for those rule changes is

canna law blog

California Cannabis: The Race is On for Temporary State Licenses

Unless you’ve been completely out of the loop, you already know that many, many people are in a race to submit their California state temporary cannabis license applications before December 31 of this year, which represents the “drop dead” date for cannabis temporary licenses. Add to that the regulatory curve balls thrown by the California

canna law blog

Starting a Cannabis Business: What Contracts Do You Really Need?

You can spend a lot of money on lawyers, accountants and consultants when starting a cannabis business. There is so much ground to cover from concept to execution– especially in a complex and highly regulated industry. Related to this issue, we have written on this blog about finding a team, and we have talked about

canna law blog

California Cannabis: Cities and the End of Temporary Licenses

We recently wrote about an announcement by the California Department of Food and Agriculture (“CDFA”) that temporary license applications need to be submitted by December 1, 2018 in order to be reviewed on time for approval and issuance before December 31, 2018. To date, California Department of Public Health (“CDPH”) followed suit, but the California Bureau

canna law blog

BREAKING NEWS: Anti-Marijuana Attorney General Jeff Sessions Resigns

Jeff Sessions, the drug warrior that may or may not have liked the KKK until he found out they smoked pot, is out as U.S. Attorney General. After two years of being relentlessly bullied by President Trump, Sessions has apparently had enough. The Sessions resignation is of special interest to the marijuana industry because of