Protection of Adult-Use Cannabis from Federal Enforcement Passes House in Resounding Bipartisan Vote
Uncategorized June 23, 2019
On Thursday, the United States House of Representatives voted 267-165 to prohibit the United States Department of Justice from using appropriated funds to interfere with state-legal cannabis programs. The Rohrabacher-Farr Amendment (a.k.a. the Hinchey–Rohrabacher, Rohrabacher-Blumenauer, and Joyce Amendment) has provided similar protection to state-legal cannabis programs over the past decade, but only to medical programs….
Read moreOregon Hemp: ODA’s New “Total THC” Standard is a KEY Operations and Contract Issue
HempOregonUncategorized June 21, 2019
In the past few months, many of our Oregon hemp clients have asked us to clarify the testing requirements imposed by the Oregon Department of Agriculture (“ODA”). Unlike other jurisdictions that only test for tetrahydrocannabinol (“THC” or “delta-9 THC”) concentration, the ODA rules provide that any industrial hemp product sold to consumers must contain no…
Read moreLast week, the Food and Drug Administration issued final guidance for vape manufacturers to submit premarket tobacco product applications (PMTA), which are required to obtain official authorization to market their products. These guidelines will invariably affect manufacturers of vape products that can be used with both tobacco and cannabis. In order for any new tobacco…
Read moreHemp-CBD Laws: Alabama
HempUncategorized June 16, 2019
The Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (“2018 Farm Bill”) legalized hemp by removing the crop and its derivatives from the definition of marijuana under the Controlled Substances Act (“CSA”) and by providing a detailed framework for the cultivation of hemp. The 2018 Farm Bill gives the US Department of Agriculture (“USDA”) regulatory authority over hemp…
Read moreLast Friday, May 31, the Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) held its first public meeting during which stakeholders shared their perspective on how to regulate cannabidiol (“CBD”)-infused products. The objective of the meeting was to gather scientific data and information about the safety, manufacturing, product quality, marketing, labeling and sale of these products. As we…
Read moreCannabis Litigation: Second Circuit Could Force DEA to Re- or Deschedule Marijuana
Uncategorized June 1, 2019
A split decision decided last Thursday, May 30, by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals reflects a lack of patience with U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) when it comes to DEA’s handling of petitions to remove marijuana from the list of most dangerous drugs. As most of our readers likely know, the Schedule of Controlled…
Read moreIn the past few months, our team has been quoted in several magazines and online publications on the risks of traveling with CBD products. These media inquiries resulted from repeated arrests of travelers in possession of CBD oil at the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (“DFW”). At the time of these arrests, the Transportation Security Administration…
Read moreOn May 28th, 2018, the United States Department of Agriculture (“USDA”) issued a non-binding opinion letter regarding hemp production (“USDA Letter“). The USDA’s Office of General Counsel (a.k.a., the USDA’s lawyer) made four conclusions in the letter, which I’ll explore in this post. 1. As of the enactment of the 2018 Farm Bill on December…
Read moreEveryone’s Asking: Why Isn’t the Marijuana Banking Act Moving in the Senate?
Uncategorized May 26, 2019
The banking associations from all 50 states and 1 U.S. territory sent a joint letter to leaders of the Senate Banking Committee on Monday, to urge advancement of bipartisan legislation that would protect financial institutions that service marijuana businesses. The banking associations complained that while the SAFE Banking Act cleared the House Financial Services Committee…
Read moreBanking, intellectual property, food and beverage (and cosmetics), international trade, domestic trade, state laws, ag production contracts, etc., etc. When it comes to industrial hemp, the 2018 Farm Bill upended all of these things. Our cannabis business lawyers have been busy advising a large number of new hemp and hemp-CBD businesses getting in on the…
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