Listen up friends. The Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission (OLCC) plans to drop the hammer on bad actors in the regulated Oregon market. Or so the Commission announced in a stern news release on Friday, July 29 (the “Release”). The Release is titled “Commissioners plan to tighten ‘change of ownership’ option.” For good effect, it
Last week, we discovered that U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren and Cory Booker cited our own Vince Sliwoski in a letter to Merrick Garland, the U.S. Attorney General, pressing for the end of cannabis prohibition. The Warren-Booker letter, dated October 6, 2021, advocates for DEA to remove cannabis from the federal Controlled Substances Act— which would
When going into business—whether cannabis or otherwise— the first step is to create a business entity. (This seems obvious but still eludes many in the cannabis industry.) One of the principal purposes of establishing a business entity to limit the personal liability exposure of the founders. Typically, the business entity itself and not the investors,
If you are applying for an adult-use cannabis license in New York, please please please hire a New York cannabis attorney. It doesn’t have to be be us, but it should be someone who is actually familiar with the licensing rules and regulations beyond just reading media headlines. We’ve written about it before (here, here
Exciting developments lie ahead for European Union (EU) marijuana legalization. It is inevitable that marijuana legalization sweeps the globe–if you haven’t seen it yet, please watch our webinar with Clifford Chance about the existing global economy of marijuana. The question is just one of timing. In Germany, as one prominent example, we’re looking at legalization
Most cannabis businesses have to amend written cannabis contracts on a regular basis. And many of them do it all wrong. Today, I’ll look at some of the key issues cannabis businesses must consider in amending cannabis agreements. First off, any halfway decent cannabis contract will have an amendments provision. These clauses only permit amendment
Yesterday, Senator Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senators Cory Booker and Ron Wyden presented the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act (CAOA) in the Senate. This version of the CAOA is a big deal, as it’s been over a year since the discussion draft of the bill was shown to the public. It’s also a big
California cannabis tax relief is a big deal. And a real thing. What’s important now is how the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration (“CDTFA”) interprets Assembly Bill 195. As I previously blogged, California is finally on board with a modicum of cannabis tax relief for cannabis licensees (mainly for the benefit of cultivators).
While patent protection has been generally available for some time now, we’ve covered why patent protection has been largely limited for the cannabis industry (see this post). However, that isn’t going to stop patent infringement actions from reaching cannabis businesses, as can be seen from a recent case filed by a greenhouse builder. The complaint
I wrote a post last year entitled, “Does Medical Licensing Make Sense in Recreational Jurisdictions?” The idea – which we’ve seen borne out countless times – is that in jurisdictions that allow recreational cannabis, medical cannabis usually becomes a relic of the past. That’s because medical cannabis is subject to many more restrictions than recreational
