Earlier this month, Oregon Governor Kate Brown signed into law HB 3000, an omnibus bill covering a wide range of hemp-related issues. Unlike other cannabis bills passed last session, HB 3000 was written to take effect on passage, so it is now law. One of the important HB 3000 terms is a restriction on the sale
On June 29, the House Appropriations Committee (the Committee) released the draft of the fiscal year 2022 Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies funding bill (the FY22 Agriculture Appropriations Bill), along with its Committee Report, in which it offers some promising provisions and instructions that would greatly benefit the hemp industry.
As the country moves toward decriminalizing and even legalizing marijuana, federal courts largely remain closed to commercial disputes involving marijuana by operation of the illegality defense. We’ve written about the defense on several occasions, see here and here. Briefly, the illegality defense is an affirmative defense pleaded by a defendant who has been sued for
Over the last few months, I’ve written a few posts about SB-519, a bill introduced by California State Senator Scott Wiener earlier this year that is intended to decriminalize a host of psychedelics – from psilocybin to ketamine to LSD (you can read those posts here, here, and here). SB-519 has passed through the California
Our posts here regularly cover celebrity-backed cannabis companies who are doing things right (and sometimes, doing things wrong), but a recent copyright infringement case proves that not all celebrities are interested in getting involved in the industry – and certainly shouldn’t be presumed to be okay with using their fame to promote it. Solar Therapeutics
On Wednesday, a draft bill was released to end America’s federal cannabis prohibition and remove “marijuana” from the Controlled Substances Act. The bill, sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), and Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) is titled the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act and was introduced as a discussion draft
This week, Governor Newsom took a major step in reforming California’s (pretty tortured) cannabis licensing program by signing into law Assembly Bill 141, which generally consolidates all cannabis licensing and oversight into the Department of Cannabis Control (“DCC”). In our view, centralizing all licensing and regulatory oversight into a single agency in California is a
On June 28, US sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson was suspended for one month by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) for using cannabis, effectively disqualifying her from competing in the Olympics. The suspension of a gold medal contending athlete caught many by surprise and sparked a worldwide debate about marijuana use by athletes should be addressed. Many
While the Food and Drug Administration (the FDA) continues to drag its feet in forging a legal path for the manufacture, sale, and distribution of hemp-derived products, state regulators are keeping up with the demands of this evolving market and adopting increasingly more nuanced and more sophisticated regulations for these products. Several states, including Oregon
Summer’s here, a massive heatwave just hit the west coast, and fire season is right around the corner. This is the harsh reality for west coast residents and it doesn’t look like that’ll change anytime soon. Wildfires have a severe impact on entire communities and everyone can be impacted. But there are some unique issues
