When it Comes to Cannabis Advertising, Be Careful With Social Media Influencers
Uncategorized May 10, 2019
It’s becoming more and more common for companies in all industries to use social media “influencers” to promote their goods and services online. Influencer advertising in the cannabis industry is a particularly risky idea because paid advertisers need to comply with all cannabis marketing and advertising rules. It goes without saying that social media influencers…
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As everyone knows by now the 2018 Farm Bill legalized hemp production by de-scheduling the crop under the Controlled Substance Act. We’ve written extensively about federal hemp rules and regulations as well as those in California, Oregon and Washington. We’ve also addressed hemp in terms of USDA Organic Certification, international trade issues, and the FDA stance on…
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Top Five Things to Know if You’re Building Your Cannabis Empire Through M&A
Medical MarijuanaRecreational MarijuanaUncategorized May 6, 2019
It’s no secret that multiple state-by-state operators are building their cannabis empires through aggressive mergers and acquisitions (“M&A”). Last year, our cannabis business attorneys closed more than $100 million in cannabis company acquisitions, and that shows no signs of stopping in 2019. Cannabis M&A is not your run-of-the-mill business dealing though, and working from boilerplate,…
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The deals in Oregon cannabis are getting very big and much of what we do these days involves mergers, acquisitions and cross border work. It’s amazing this happened so fast. Less than four years ago, as the OLCC began writing rules for the adult use marijuana industry, there was a distinct small business tenor to…
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Oregon Cannabis Delivery: How to Enter the Market
OregonRecreational MarijuanaUncategorized April 30, 2019
In the past year or so, we’ve seen an influx of cannabis delivery businesses enter the Oregon market– specifically in Portland. Those businesses are getting a lot of press, and we have received multiple inquiries from outfits looking to enter this space. Given this growing interest, we thought we would go over some of the…
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Our California, Oregon and Washington cannabis lawyers often receive calls from panicked license holders facing violations from cannabis agencies. These violations have included monetary penalties, notices of non-renewal or straight up cancellation. If you’re a cannabis licensee, you know that the license is your most valuable asset. Without it, your business would no longer be…
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Cannabis Companies, Public Markets and Supervoting Shares
Recreational MarijuanaUncategorized March 21, 2019
Recently, the concept of “supervoting shares” in U.S. public companies has surfaced again in the news. Supervoting shares are created where founders wish to dilute themselves in an economic sense (in exchange for transformative capital), but retain outsized control in management and governance. This is different than your typical “class A and B shares” setup,…
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Industrial Hemp and the Banks: Slow Going
HempUncategorized January 16, 2019
We have spilled a lot of ink on this blog related to the 2018 Farm Bill, which legalized hemp at the federal level. It’s huge news. And there are so many ramifications, from food law to trademarks to the financial services environment. This blog post is going to cover financial institutions and hemp at about…
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The Even More Perplexing State of Hemp CBD in California
CaliforniaHempUncategorized January 14, 2019
A few months ago, I wrote a blog post about the precarious state of industrial-hemp derived CBD in California. Since then, as everyone knows, President Trump signed the Agricultural Improvement Act of 2018 (or “Farm Bill”). A lot of people think that in the wake of the Farm Bill, hemp-derived CBD (“Hemp CBD”) is now…
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2019 Will Be a Banner Year for Cannabis Mergers and Acquisitions
CaliforniaMedical MarijuanaRecreational MarijuanaUncategorized January 2, 2019
We handle a lot of cannabis M & A in our Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle and Portland offices. Over the years, it’s become pretty clear that in robustly regulated cannabis states, the secondary market for buying and selling businesses really peaks (after initial legalization) as local and state governments finally begin to settle their…
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