California’s cannabis licensing process has been a mess for applicants since pretty much day one. Annual license applications have disappeared into a black hole for months, the window for obtaining temporary licenses was very small and many have expired, and many local jurisdictions decided to make up their own phased permitting processes that in many…
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Phase 3 Marijuana Dispensary Licensing in L.A. Finally Takes Shape
CaliforniaMedical MarijuanaRecreational MarijuanaUncategorized March 11, 2019
Big changes are coming for L.A.’s long-awaited Phase 3 licensing regarding storefront retail. The last time I wrote on this topic, the Department of Cannabis Regulation (“DCR”) made several proposals to City Council on how to re-vamp Phase 3 licensing for efficiency and expediency, which at the time the City Council pretty much rejected. However,…
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California Cannabis Agencies Drop New Packaging and Labeling Guidance
CaliforniaUncategorized March 10, 2019
On March 7, 2019 the California Department of Public Health (“CDPH”), which regulates cannabis manufacturers, dropped a new list of updated resources for packaging and labeling. Anyone on the CDPH’s email list should have received a copy. The notice was quickly picked up the Bureau of Cannabis Control (“BCC”), which regulates retailers and distributors, and…
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California Cannabis: Where Prop. 65 and Labeling Rules Meet
CaliforniaMedical MarijuanaRecreational MarijuanaUncategorized March 5, 2019
Our California cannabis attorneys have been getting inundated with packaging and labeling review since each California cannabis licensing agency adopted its final rules in January 2019, and even before that when the rules were under consideration. One thing that many California cannabis companies—and especially cannabis companies from other states who are stakeholders in California—often overlook…
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ICYMI: Governor Newsom Will Send National Guard to Fight Illegal California Cannabis Grows
CaliforniaUncategorized March 3, 2019
We’ve been saying for the last year that as California’s legal marijuana program continues to roll out, the state’s enforcement against illegal operators will continue to ramp up. During his state of the state address on February 12, 2019, Governor Gavin Newsom announced that the National Guard will be utilized to eliminate unlicensed cannabis farms….
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California Cannabis Provisional Licensing Update
CaliforniaUncategorized February 27, 2019
Last summer, I wrote about Senate Bill 1459, a piece of California legislation that created a new scheme of provisional licenses for cannabis operators. This provisional licensing scheme was essentially intended to replace the temporary licensing scheme that only ran through January 1, 2019 per state law. SB-1459 was necessary because the three main state cannabis…
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And Best Democratic Experiment Goes to . . . (Legal?) Weed at the Oscars
CaliforniaMedical MarijuanaRecreational MarijuanaUncategorized February 24, 2019
MarketWatch ran an article last week on how this year’s Academy Award swag bags “are packed” with “legal” cannabis. I’m always happy to see an article like this because it means California legalization is working. And yet, these glam-o, cannabis friendly goodie bags are a good reminder to cannabis businesses (and the ancillary businesses that support…
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Battle Royale? Phase 3 Cannabis Licensing in City of Los Angeles
CaliforniaMedical MarijuanaRecreational MarijuanaUncategorized February 19, 2019
The City of Los Angeles has long endured questions surrounding its elusive Phase 3 licensing process for cannabis businesses. The City completed Phase 1 and 2 licensing without too much crazy change, but Phase 3 is very likely going to be a different story, and will affect a lot of stakeholders for better or worse….
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California Cannabis Trademarks Could Get a Legislative Boost
CaliforniaUncategorized February 10, 2019
State trademarks for cannabis goods and services have been an ongoing saga in California that we have written about extensively. For a little background, until January 1, 2018, obtaining state trademark protection in California was not possible due to Sections 14270-14272 of the Model State Trademark Law of the California Business and Professions Code, which…
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The California Bureau of Cannabis Control’s Final Regulations Immigration Impact on Foreign “Owners”
CaliforniaRecreational MarijuanaUncategorized February 6, 2019
On January 16, 2019, each of the three California cannabis agencies dropped a final set of regulations. In many senses, the Bureau of Cannabis Control’s (“BCC”) regulations were the most comprehensive and expansive (we summarized some of the highlights here, and summarized the highlights of the California Department of Public Health’s final regulations here). In…
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