When I receive a summary of a cannabis business deal–the first emails, calls, LOIs, and term sheet in any form–with 90% accuracy I can say whether the transaction will be a difficult one or not. Note that “difficult” does not correlate with complex: Often the more complex deals, with... Read more
In previous posts, we’ve puzzled about why no one has filed a cannabis patent infringement case, despite the large number of patents granted for cannabis plants and compounds. See here, here, here, and here. That all changed last week. United Cannabis Corporation (“UCANN”) has now filed what is believed... Read more
Looks good. Might get messy. Phase II cannabis licensing in the City of Los Angeles (for only non-retail activity) kicked off on August 1 at 12 p.m. (and it will conclude on September 13th). To qualify for a City of Los Angeles cannabis license during this timeframe, an applicant must, among other... Read more
Be prepared! As I discussed last week, hacked devices, breached networks, and stolen proprietary information have become commonplace in the cannabis industry. Because cybercrime variants are continually emerging, no company can achieve totally assured cybersecurity. Consequently, we strongly encourage all our clients to adopt a cyber incident plan for... Read more
And there are additional waste, destruction, disposal, track and trace and reporting requirements for the recalled product. MAUCRSA itself empowers CDPH to mandate a recall when: “the has evidence that a cannabis product is adulterated or misbranded, the department shall notify the manufacturer. may order a manufacturer to... Read more
Our own Hilary Bricken will have the great pleasure of speaking at the 2nd annual North Coast Wine & Weed Symposium (presented by the Wine Industry Network) on Thursday, August 2, in Santa Rosa. While the Symposium will focus on a variety of topics covering the cross section of the... Read more
Local policy may be influenced by nearby metropolitan choices. Do you live in a jurisdiction where commercial cannabis activities are prohibited? Under the Medicinal and Adult-Use Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act (“MAUCRSA”), local jurisdictions in California are free to decide whether they will regulate or prohibit commercial cannabis activities.... Read more
Protect your business and its data from theft. To our surprise, many of our clients remain convinced that they are immune to cyberattacks. Yet, cannabis businesses house incredibly valuable information, making them exceedingly vulnerable to these attacks. This misplaced confidence has led numerous cannabis companies to operate without the... Read more
Cannabis licensing in the City of Los Angeles has been a slow go. Though the City’s Department of Cannabis Regulation (“DCR”) has licensed 155 Existing Medical Marijuana Dispensaries (“EMMDs”) there is still an entire line of existing cultivators and manufacturers, social equity applicants, and general public applicants waiting their turn... Read more
Last Friday, July 12, 2018, all three agencies overseeing California’s implementation of MAUCRSA dropped proposed permanent regulations that will eventually replace the readopted emergency regulations that are active now. For the text of those proposed regulations go here, here, and here. Importantly, these regulations are just proposed; they are not... Read more
