The Risks of Infusing Hemp-CBD Topical Products with Essential Oils and Menthol
HempUncategorized November 21, 2019
As we have previously discussed, the sale and marketing of hemp-infused cannabidiol (“Hemp-CBD”) cosmetics, such as salves, lotions and creams (collectively “Topicals”), present the lowest risk for businesses wishing to enter this booming industry. We have quite a few clients pursuing this path, from small-batch manufacturers to national retail outlets. Generally, a Topical may be…
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Federal Antitrust Scrutiny and (Certain) Cannabis Deals
Medical MarijuanaRecreational MarijuanaUncategorized November 6, 2019
If you follow state-by-state legal cannabis legalization, you’re aware that despite the federal illegality of cannabis, certain federal agencies police the cannabis industry like they do any other legal industry. For example, the NLRB has been known to go after cannabis companies engaged in hostile workplace conduct and the Department of Treasury contemplates banking services to…
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Why the USDA Testing Rules Will Hurt the Hemp Industry
HempUncategorized November 2, 2019
On Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (“USDA”) released its interim final rule for the production of hemp under the 2018 Farm Bill. Although these rules are not final, they will go into effect once published in the Federal Register, at which point a 60-day public comment period will begin. Upon the publication of the…
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CBD Topicals are Not Immune from FDA Scrutiny, as Recent Warning Letters Show
HempUncategorized November 2, 2019
We’ve written extensively on this blog about industrial hemp-derived CBD products, including CBD comestibles, CBD pet products, CBD in alcohol, and CBD topicals. Of all these categories of goods, the CBD industry seems to have reached a consensus that CBD topical products present the lowest level of risk for businesses, hence companies like CVS, Walgreens,…
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Natural Products, the FDA and Cannabis Regulation
UncategorizedUtah November 1, 2019
I recently attended two events in Utah headlined by the United Natural Products Alliance (“UNPA”) where its President, Loren Israelsen, discussed the voluminous public comments received by the FDA in response its latest round of questions regarding how over-the-counter cannabis extracts like CBD should be regulated. Israelsen provided numerous takeaways for UNPA members and their…
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Should You Import Hemp to the United States?
HempUncategorized October 29, 2019
The passage of the 2018 Farm Bill and the legalization of hemp and hemp-derived products has sparked strong business interest from foreign stakeholders. For the past few months, our firm has received numerous inquiries from existing and prospective clients about the legality of importing the agricultural crop and its derived products, particularly hemp-derived CBD (“Hemp-CBD”),…
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Grading the Presidential Candidates on Marijuana: Overall Rankings
Medical MarijuanaRecreational MarijuanaUncategorized October 26, 2019
In a recent 13-part series, we reviewed the stance of each of the 2020 presidential candidates’ on marijuana, and we assigned each candidate a letter grade corresponding with our analysis. Our grading criteria is as follows: Current stance on marijuana: What have they recently said about marijuana legislation? When did they adopt this stance? We…
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Grading the Presidential Candidates on Marijuana: Tom Steyer
Medical MarijuanaRecreational MarijuanaUncategorized October 20, 2019
We recently ran a series of blog posts that take a close look at the Democratic Party candidates for President in 2020. We examined each candidate’s historic approach to marijuana law and policy, and we also canvassed their current respective stances on marijuana. In all, we covered Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders, Kamala Harris, Elizabeth Warren, Pete Buttigieg, Corey Booker, Beto O’Rourke, Andrew Yang, Amy…
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Grading the Presidential Candidates on Marijuana: Tulsi Gabbard
Medical MarijuanaRecreational MarijuanaUncategorized October 12, 2019
Over the course of of eleven weeks, we recently ran a series of blog posts that take a close look at the Democratic Party candidates for President in 2020. We examined each candidate’s historic approach to marijuana law and policy, and we also canvassed their current respective stances on marijuana. In all, we covered Joe Biden, Bernie…
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CBD Products and False Advertising Under the Lanham Act
HempUncategorized October 12, 2019
A few weeks ago, I wrote a Hemp/CBD litigation forecast in which I predicted that at some point a CBD company will make use of the Lanham Act by claiming that a competitor is engaging in false or misleading advertising. (See here). In that post I promised to go into the Lanham Act in further…
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