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Cannabis Term

Federal Illegality Waivers

Contract provisions where parties agree not to raise the illegal nature of marijuana activity as a defense to enforcement of the contract in judicial proceedings, and likely have little or no practical effect.

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Cannabis Term

Federal Illegality Doctrine

Legal doctrine representing courts’ refusal to grant relief or enforce contracts for illegal activity, including for marijuana-related activity or goods.

oregon psilocybin service provider
Psychedelics Law Blog

Oregon Psilocybin: Professional Service Providers

Welcome to the fourth installment in this series surveying business and regulatory issues in the Oregon psilocybin program. Today I’ll cover access to professional service providers. Service Providers and the Oregon Psilocybin Industry I’ve mentioned before that Oregon psilocybin shares many parallels with what came before with cannabis. In the early days of cannabis, it

foreign direct investment cannabis
Canna Law Blog

Four Considerations for Foreign Investors in U.S. Cannabis

Foreign investors (often in countries that prohibit cannabis) are eager to invest in burgeoning state cannabis markets in the U.S. This can often go very wrong, especially if the investor gets bad legal or tax advice. Our cannabis attorneys and our foreign direct investment team have seen these problems crop up again and again. Today,

state cannabis regulation
Canna Law Blog

Ten Recommendations for State Cannabis Regulation

Unfazed by the federal leadership vacuum on cannabis, states continue to roll out cannabis proposals and programs. A total of 34 states considered cannabis reform proposals in 2021. Another 32 proposals (some of them pre-filed in 2021) are up for discussion here in 2022. These proposals range from limited decriminalization measures to comprehensive, adult use

new york cannabis real estate
Canna Law Blog

New York Cannabis Real Estate Refresher

Real estate is on the forefront of many people’s minds with New York on the doorstep of adult-use cannabis applications. And for good reason: owning or controlling real estate will be a requirement for applicants (with some soon-to-be caveats for social equity applicants). We have fielded lots of calls from prospective adult-use cannabis applicants starting

Cannabis Trademarks After Federal Legalization
Canna Law Blog

Cannabis Trademarks After Federal Legalization

What will happen with cannabis trademarks after federal legalization? This question comes up regularly, but unfortunately lacks a clear answer (or even an unclear answer). On the one hand, with cannabis no longer unlawful at the federal level, USPTO will be able to register trademarks for cannabis products. But beyond that, nothing is clear. Whose

Courts Deny Naturalization Petitions Due to Marijuana
Canna Law Blog

Courts Deny Naturalization Petitions Due to Marijuana

We often write of the pernicious effects of the War on Drugs in the criminal law context as well as its harmful impacts on the hemp and (state) legal marijuana industries. This post turns to another issue resulting from federal illegality – the inability of a lawful permanent resident to petition for naturalization and and

cannabis purchase order financing
Canna Law Blog

Cannabis Purchase Order Financing

Cannabis purchase order financing is gaining speed in the industry. Because of robust state regulation, high operational costs, high taxes, and the federal illegality of marijuana, a lot of cannabis businesses struggle financially in their day to day business operations. Approaches to this problem takes various shapes and forms across the industry. There are threats

oregon cannabis license moratoria
Canna Law Blog

Update: Proposed Oregon Cannabis License Moratoria

Earlier this week, I canvassed the key cannabis bills enrolled at the outset of the Oregon legislative session. I mentioned that HB 4016 was sucking up all of the oxygen due to its Oregon cannabis license moratoria, including the retroactive moratorium on new producer applications effective January 1, 2022. That retroactivity concept came out of