California Cannabis: The Pasadena Permitting Countdown is On
CaliforniaMedical MarijuanaRecreational MarijuanaUncategorized December 29, 2018
On January 1, 2019, the City of Pasadena in Northeastern Los Angeles County will open up its 30-day window to apply for one of six retail, four cultivation, or four testing facility permits. These 14 licenses will be highly coveted and sought after, and the winners will not be derived from a lottery system, but…
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Top 10 Unknowns About California’s Cannabis Regulations
CaliforniaMedical MarijuanaRecreational MarijuanaUncategorized December 27, 2018
In California, under the Medicinal and Adult-Use Cannabis and Regulation Safety Act (MAUCRSA), temporary licenses began issuing to cannabis businesses on January 1, 2018. Since then, the state agencies in charge of MAUCRSA’s implementation (the Bureau of Cannabis Control (BCC), the California Department of Public Health (CDPH), and the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA)) have…
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ICYMI: Los Angeles Updates Its Phase 2 Cannabis Licensing Process
CaliforniaMedical MarijuanaRecreational MarijuanaUncategorized December 18, 2018
The ups, downs, and unknowns around L.A. cannabis licensing have abounded from the passage of Measure M back in March 2017. This is not uncommon, especially in large cities, as regulators determine how to handle things on the fly and as issues arise (see, for example, social equity in L.A. and the ability to re-locate…
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Ninth Circuit Agrees with Montana: Employees Can Be Fired for Off-Work Marijuana Use
Medical MarijuanaUncategorized December 10, 2018
Medical marijuana is legal in Montana. Unfortunately, that does not prevent local employers from terminating workers for legal, off-work use of marijuana in the state. In 2010, while already employed by Charter Communications, LLC, Lance Carlson was issued a medical marijuana card under Montana Medical Marijuana Act to treat chronic low back and stomach pain….
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More Banks and Credit Unions Are Working with Cannabis Businesses
Medical MarijuanaRecreational MarijuanaUncategorized December 7, 2018
According to a recent report from the U.S. Treasury Department’s Financial Crime Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”), a growing number of financial institutions are willing to work with cannabis businesses. As of September 30, 375 banks and 111 credit unions were managing marijuana business accounts. These numbers reveal a steady growth in the number of financial providers…
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Breaking: California Bureau of Cannabis Control Publishes Proposed Final Regulations
CaliforniaMedical MarijuanaRecreational MarijuanaUncategorized December 7, 2018
Today, the Bureau of Cannabis Control (BCC) published its Proposed Text of Regulations Submitted to Office of Administrative Law for review here. We are still in the process of reviewing everything, but there are enough ambiguities to cause us a good deal of concern, particularly with respect to IP licensing and contract manufacturing agreements. We…
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Anti-Competitive Alert? Marijuana Slotting Fee and Pay-to-Stay Contracts in California
CaliforniaMedical MarijuanaRecreational MarijuanaUncategorized December 3, 2018
With the roll out of the Medicinal and Adult-Use Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act (“MAUCRSA“), our California cannabis attorneys see all kinds of agreements between and among licensees. From IP licensing to white labeling to distribution contracts, we’re beginning to see people emerge from the shadows and enter into written agreements with each other, which…
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California Cannabis: The Race is On for Temporary State Licenses
CaliforniaMedical MarijuanaRecreational MarijuanaUncategorized November 19, 2018
Unless you’ve been completely out of the loop, you already know that many, many people are in a race to submit their California state temporary cannabis license applications before December 31 of this year, which represents the “drop dead” date for cannabis temporary licenses. Add to that the regulatory curve balls thrown by the California…
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This morning when I went to the gym before work, I put on an NPR podcast that delved into the story of the FTC’s bust of David Diamond. Diamond is an infamous Angeleno who defrauded hundreds of people via telemarketing scams. In the podcast, the interviewee does a great job of explaining the common scammer…
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How Cannabis Fared in the California Elections
CaliforniaMedical MarijuanaUncategorized November 9, 2018
As we wrote on Tuesday, the midterm elections were monumental for cannabis: Michigan voters approved of a proposal legalizing recreational marijuana for adult use, Utah and Missouri will soon establish medical marijuana regimes, and Texas Representative and marijuana antagonist Pete Sessions lost to a Democrat. All in all, Tuesday was a good day at the…
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