Poor Josephine County. We have been writing on this blog about the southern Oregon county’s mounting frustrations with cannabis, its successive losses in litigation, and its most recent attempt in federal district court to submarine Oregon’s cannabis programs. We immediately identified this lawsuit as a “stunning overreach” and we predicted the county would lose. To
This past year, the country has witnessed widespread interest in the use of cannabis in its nutraceutical (when added to food or drinks) form. Cannabidiol (“CBD”), the non-psychoactive chemical compound found in the cannabis plant, has gained great popularity among alcohol beverage companies. The growing popularity of CBD-infused products combined with their mainstream nature has
In the past year, we have seen a remarkable uptick in individuals and businesses pursuing Oregon industrial hemp production, processing and sale. This accelerated interest has coincided with the CBD craze, and fortunately, Oregon has been working steadily to build out its hemp program over the past year or two. Today’s blog post answers some
As CBD and hemp continue to grow in popularity we are receiving an increasing number of calls and emails from companies that want to distribute hemp across the country. We have written about the legality of hemp and CBD under federal law: DEA Confirms It Cannot Regulate All Parts of the Cannabis Plant Cannabis Taxation:
Yesterday afternoon, the Oregon Liquor Control Commission (“OLCC”) published a news release titled “OLCC Will Pause Acceptance of Marijuana License Applications.” This “pause” takes effect Friday, June 15th. The agency’s sudden announcement was a big surprise to almost everyone, and we received a flood of emails and phone calls throughout the afternoon. Personally, I cannot
Once upon a time, the cannabis industry had something called the Ogden Memorandum. That was back in 2009, prior to any state legalizing cannabis for recreational use. The Ogden Memo gave prosecutorial guidelines to U.S. Attorneys in medical marijuana states. Many people read the Ogden Memo too cavalierly for the feds’ liking (to wit, over
Yesterday, we received a call from Congressman Earl Blumenauer’s office here in Portland, Oregon. The purpose of the call was to discuss an idea to deal with the oversupply of marijuana in the state sanctioned Oregon market. Specifically, the idea was to explore the possibility of an interstate compact with California, where Oregon would sell
We represent investors from all over the world making plays in state-legal cannabis. The phenomenon began in earnest a couple of years ago, when Oregon became the first U.S. state to open its marijuana industry to non-residents. Some of those early deals were backed by Canadian public money, and the phenomenon of Canadian investment has
The Oregon legislature concluded its 2018 session last weekend. As we wrote last month, because 2018 is an even-numbered year, this was a short session lasting just 35 days. We predicted that not all four proposed cannabis bills would pass and that is exactly what happened: the proposed legislation on “special events” for marijuana licensees
Cannabis producers make up the largest number of Oregon industry licensees. As of the Oregon Liquor Control Commission’s (OLCC) February 15, 2018 report, there are 922 licensed producers and approximately 1100 producer licenses awaiting approval. In comparison, the next largest license category is retail establishments, with a total of 527 approved licenses and approximately 200 awaiting approval.
