canna law blog

Cannabis Law and Policy: What I’ve Learned From Teaching

For the past three years, I have taught a class called “Cannabis Law & Policy” at Lewis & Clark Law School here in Portland, Oregon. It’s a seminar that meets for two hours a week for upper level students. Per the syllabus, learning objectives for that class are: 1) students should be able to understand

canna law blog

California Cannabis: L.A. Phase 3 Social Equity Window Opens Today

The prelude to Phase 3 licensing in the City of L.A. is finally upon us. Today, L.A. will begin accepting applications for Phase 3 social equity applicants for retail and delivery in the City. Specifically, Phase 3 social equity applicants will have from today through July 29th to prove up their Tier 1 or Tier

canna law blog

Top Five Things to Know if You’re Building Your Cannabis Empire Through M&A

It’s no secret that multiple state-by-state operators are building their cannabis empires through aggressive mergers and acquisitions (“M&A”). Last year, our cannabis business attorneys closed more than $100 million in cannabis company acquisitions, and that shows no signs of stopping in 2019. Cannabis M&A is not your run-of-the-mill business dealing though, and working from boilerplate,

canna law blog

Cannabis mexicano: El nuevo panorama legal

El jueves 28 de enero, organizaremos un webinar GRATUITO de una hora de duración en el que hablaremos sobre el aspecto comercial del cannabis medicinal y recreativo en México. ¡INSCRÍBASE HOY MISMO! Estamos comprometidos a mantener nuestro conocimiento de las noticias internacionales de cannabis al día, y como el cannabis legalizado se ha convertido en una realidad internacional, nuestros abogados en España y en China están naturalmente viendo más de esto.

canna law blog

Prop. 65 Potentially Expanding to Cover More California Cannabis Products

We’ve written time and again about the looming terror of Prop. 65 violations for cannabis businesses when it comes to packaging and labeling their products with the correct safe harbor language. The Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986 (a/k/a Prop. 65), requires the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) to publish a

canna law blog

Balancing the Scales? “Big Marijuana” and Social Equity

Three years ago, I did a TedX Talk titled “High Dive: Are We Creating Big Marijuana?” The issues I raised in my talk are still relevant today, especially as more states legalize. Basically the new question around state cannabis legalization is who should get to profit from it–big business or those most negatively affected by

canna law blog

Cannabis Dispute? Courts are Open

Back in 2015, I wrote on this blog that we were never not litigating cannabis business disputes. That is still true today, although the forums have changed: matters are now resolved through the court system more frequently than before, when private arbitration was preferred. This is partly because the prevailing view among cannabis business attorneys

canna law blog

California Cannabis: Where Prop. 65 and Labeling Rules Meet

Our California cannabis attorneys have been getting inundated with packaging and labeling review since each California cannabis licensing agency adopted its final rules in January 2019, and even before that when the rules were under consideration. One thing that many California cannabis companies—and especially cannabis companies from other states who are stakeholders in California—often overlook

canna law blog

Oregon Marijuana Audit: Everything is All Messed Up and Also Just Fine

On January 31, the Oregon Secretary of State released an audit of Oregon marijuana regulation. The audit is a hefty 37 pages, but its core findings are listed right there on the cover sheet: “Oregon’s framework for regulating marijuana should be strengthened to better mitigate diversion risk and improve laboratory testing.” Now: we would all

canna law blog

ICYMI: U.S. Attorney General Nominee (Likely) Won’t Harsh Your Mellow

Back on January 4, 2018, the industry was in a slight tailspin due to then acting Attorney General Jeff Session’s (renowned marijuana hater) rescinding of all marijuana enforcement guidance from the Department of Justice (“DOJ”). Reactions in the media ranged from treating the Sessions announcement as nothing more than an attempt to frighten the cannabis industry