State legal cannabis businesses are used to the specter of the federal government in the rear view mirrors of their lives and businesses. Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know that cannabis remains federally illegal. And it’s not so much the case anymore that the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) or Department of Justice
This is the second post in a two-part series. The first is available here. Last week, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) submitted a CBD enforcement policy to the White House. We do not yet have the text of that document but we anticipate that it will have a significant impact on hemp-derived CBD (Hemp
On Tuesday, July 21, the Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) released draft guidance for clinical research related to the development and manufacturing of cannabis-based drugs, which gained particular interest following the legalization of hemp in December 2018. Although the guidance does not cover other FDA-regulated products, such as hemp-derived CBD (“Hemp CBD”)-infused foods and dietary
Earlier this year, we discussed the legality of lesser-known hemp-derived cannabinoids which appeared to be gaining success in the U.S. One of these promising cannabinoids is cannabinol (“CBN”). Put simply, CBN is a non-intoxicating cannabinoid that results from the degradation of THC. Because it is difficult, if not impossible, to grow CBN-rich strains of hemp,
On Wednesday, July 8, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) sent Congress a report on the CBD marketplace. Last year, Congress mandated that the FDA report on hemp-derived CBD in appropriations legislation. You can find the report linked at the bottom of this article from Marijuana Moment, which also provides an overview of the report.
On Wednesday, July 8, 2020, a bipartisan group of sixteen state treasurers, led by Oregon Treasurer Tobias Read, sent a letter to congressional leaders requesting that the next piece of COVID-19 relief legislation include the SAFE Banking Act. The letter prominently cites both the well-known and new safety issues that come into play when forcing
Last week, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), issued new guidance (the “FinCEN Guidance”) for financial institutions working with hemp-related businesses. The FinCEN Guidance centers on due diligence requirements as related to the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA). This guidance follows closely on the new National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) guidance for federally-chartered credit unions, which
If you aren’t familiar with the TCPA, you should familiarize yourself with this important statute that is currently sparking a ton of litigation in the cannabis industry. The TCPA stands for the Telephone Consumer Protection Act – a statute that was passed in 1991 to fight the incessant “robocalls” that were plaguing consumers at the
On June 23, 2020, John Elias, a career Department of Justice (DOJ) official, submitted written testimony to the U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary (the Committee) in response to a Congressional investigation into the politicization of the DOJ office under Attorney General William Barr. Elias claims Barr directed the DOJ’s Antitrust Division (the Division) to
Last week, the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) issued new guidance (“Guidance”) for federally-chartered credit unions serving the hemp industry. All of us at Harris Sliwoski were excited to see the Guidance released: NCUA retained us last fall to advise the government on this project, and we have always represented credit union clients as to
