We are not convinced by the HIDTA report. Earlier this month, Billy J. Williams, U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon, responded to a recent federal report on drug policy in Oregon by calling the state’s cannabis program “out of control.” The report in question was published by the Oregon-Idaho... Read more
Don’t sleep on Prop 65! Almost on a weekly basis, clients ask our California cannabis attorneys to review and provide advice and guidance on their packaging and labeling for their cannabis and cannabis products pursuant to California’s Medicinal and Adult-Use Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act (MAUCRSA). This means that... Read more
Oftentimes in the marijuana industry, licensees forget or don’t believe that existing federal, state, and local laws apply to their cannabis operations. For example, things like ADA and OSHA compliance get overlooked where the thinking can be, “I’m already violating one federal law, so I don’t have to comply... Read more
Entirely avoidable, fortunately. We’ve written previously about some common issues landlords run into when leasing to cannabis businesses (see links at the bottom of this article). Now that we’ve seen almost a year’s worth of emergency regulations, and the state has released its proposed final regulations, we’ve also seen... Read more
I’ve worked on many celebrity licensing and endorsement deals, and my firm’s cannabis intellectual property lawyers have received countless inquiries from companies looking to partner with one celebrity or another. And while the best of the deals can be very lucrative (and interesting) for everyone involved, plenty of them... Read more
Will they get it right this time? Cannabis prohibition under U.S. federal law is nonsensical and causes many problems, from oppressive taxation to civil rights violations. Under international law, however, things may be even worse. Fortunately, it was reported this week that the United Nations (U.N.) will finally take a... Read more
Don’t worry, your favorite symbol isn’t going anywhere. Last year, the Oregon Legislature passed Senate Bill 1057, which transferred cannabis labeling authority from the Oregon Health Authority (“OHA”) to the Oregon Liquor Control Commission (“OLCC”). The new rules, which became operational on August 15, 2018, merged the OHA rules... Read more
This industry is different, you know. Many cannabis businesses are funded with debt. Sometimes, the debt is owed to one of the business’s owners, who pursued a debt structure for tax reasons. Other times, the debt is owed to a third party. That party could be a friend or... Read more
Hacking back isn’t the answer, unfortunately. As I have discussed for the last two weeks, cannabis businesses have become increasingly vulnerable to cyberattacks. It is natural for a company victimized by data breaches to want to retaliate by hacking back. However, under current U.S. law, which is codified under... Read more
Is the vape industry in real trouble? Like so many other U.S. industries, the U.S. vaping industry is now in the crosshairs of a 25% tariff on products imported from China. The first two waves of President Trump’s proposed tariffs against China covered about $50 billion worth of Chinese... Read more
