Medical marijuana patients and growers across the state are abandoning the Oregon Medical Marijuana Program. Long considered a source of Oregon’s black market, medical marijuana is fast falling victim to a combination of red tape and a different kind of market force: the convenience of recreational retail sales. “Medical... Read more
We’ve been writing about RICO lawsuits on this blog for a while. These lawsuits are typically brought by neighbors of state-licensed cannabis farms, who allege they are bothered by noise and smells associated with cannabis production, and that their property values have been damaged by extension. Generally speaking, these plaintiffs tend to have strong prohibitionist…
This series of posts has been exploring Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI) proposed rules implementing Oregon Equal Pay Act and how it will affect cannabis businesses. Last week, I discussed what “work of a comparable character” means. The week before that, I explored what compensation is. This... Read more
In 2017 Oregon passed sweeping Equal Pay Legislation. Towards the end of August, Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI) issued draft rules implementing the Oregon Equal Pay Act. This series of post is exploring those new rules and how they will affect cannabis businesses. In my last post,... Read more
Today let’s talk about Matthew Price, the Oregon marijuana businessman headed to jail for tax crimes. This story got a lot of coverage when it broke last month, partly because it was the first known tax-related prosecution for a licensed pot business owner, and partly because Price was fairly... Read more
Back in 2017, the Oregon legislature passed equal pay legislation prohibiting employers from asking applicants about compensation history. The law is known as the Equal Pay Act. This law, like other employment laws, applies to cannabis businesses. The equal pay provision of the law goes into effect on January... Read more
. City cannabis licensing in action. Recently, the City of Portland announced that it would lower cannabis business licensing fees. Most notably, retail license fees have been reduced from $4,975 to $3,500, in line with other license types.... Read more
Last week we discussed the data breach notification laws with which cannabis companies doing business in Oregon must comply following a cyber intrusion. Today, we discuss the safeguards these companies must adopt to protect the security, confidentiality and integrity of customers and employee (collectively, “Consumer”)’s personal information, who reside... Read more
Your license transition plan should consider employees. You’re new to the Oregon cannabis scene and quickly realize you won’t be able to open a newly licensed cannabis retail store due to the Oregon Liquor Control Commissions (OLCC) pause on issuing new licenses that went into effect on June 15.... Read more
Noncompetes aren’t always enforceable. Marijuana has been legal in Oregon for about three years now. Employees with specialized skills are starting to jump ship and head to competitors. What do you do, as an employer, if a candidate for employment shows you a non-competition agreement they signed with their... Read more
