Yesterday, some big news dropped that the cannabis industry has anticipated since last summer. I take issue with some of the headlines, so here’s mine: “DEA Reportedly Agrees to Initiate Proposed Rulemaking to Reschedule Marijuana…”. Clearly, I’m a lawyer and not a reporter, but the “Reportedly” and “Initiate Proposed Rulemaking” are key considerations here at
Cannabis commercial lease agreements Signing a commercial lease can be an exciting step toward realizing operational goals in your Washington cannabis business. However, if a lease is not analyzed and completed correctly, the agreement can leave either the landlord or the tenant, or both, with additional headaches and liability. Understanding the nuances of the cannabis
Arizona's record-breaking cannabis market In the landscape of booming and busting cannabis markets, Arizona emerges as a standout success story. A naturally beautiful state that attracts a sizeable group of tourists every year, Arizona skyrocketed past $1 billion in total cannabis sales for 2023. Unlike its northern neighbor of Nevada, Arizona has exceeded $1 billion
Former Minnesota Governor and ex-professional wrestler Jesse Ventura is the latest celebrity to start a cannabis brand. Ventura served as Governor of the Land of 10,000 Lakes from 1999 to 2003. One could say that no other Governor serving during the late '90's or early 2000’s had quite the extensive background in variously different forms
Last week, California's Department of Cannabis Control (DCC) released illegal market enforcement data for quarter 1 of 2024. It's become a new tradition of mine to compare this quarterly data and see whether the state is actually doing anything to fight the illegal market (for example, see my posts for Q4 2023, Q3 2023, and
Cannabis investments are difficult enough when the investor is a U.S.-based person or entity. But things can get immensely more complicated when foreign investment is on the table. Today I want to highlight some of the top considerations for foreign investors and U.S. cannabis companies alike. 1. Legality could cause serious headaches To this day,
The need for social equity in cannabis programs As adult-use cannabis legalization sweeps across the country and America confronts the toll of previous, draconian cannabis policies, one of the best attempts to right abject wrongs is social equity programs within state cannabis industries. Unfortunately though, social equity programs are easily exploited and "loopholed." Licenses have
Cannabis contracts are - in the simplest sense - binding agreements between two parties. But how you get to something being "binding" can be complicated. And in the cannabis industry, where things move a mile a second and people often overlook basic contract requirements, the results can be disastrous. Today I want to focus on
Florida voters will have their say on whether recreational marijuana should be legal On April 1, 2024, the Florida Supreme Court gave the green light to a ballot initiative to legalize adult-use marijuana. The court's 5-2 opinion, penned by Justice Grosshans, brings an end to years of judicial hairsplitting that saw earlier legalization proposals derailed.
Though the cannabis industry is one of America’s most lucrative new industries -- with estimates that it will reach approximately $58 billion in sales by 2028 -- the markets in several recreational states are suffering severe financial harm. In states like Oregon, the problems have gotten so out of hand that businesses are even pulling
