Mitigating and Addressing Litigation Risks for Cannabis Businesses
Cannabis M&A: Pain Points and Opportunities
Managing Labor and Employment Complexities in Cannabis Businesses
Work This Way: A Labor & Employment Law Podcast - Episode 29: Weed in the Workplace with Christy Rogers of Maynard Nexsen
Intellectual property considerations for launching new cannabis products
Unpacking the current cannabis regulatory landscape and how it impacts your business
Managing Employee Compliance in Highly Regulated Industries — Hiring to Firing Podcast
If Cannabis Is Reclassified, What Will Happen to the Marketplace? – Diagnosing Health Care
Cannabis Law Now Podcast: What’s Next for Schedule III Marijuana
Podcast - DEA Plants the Seed for Rescheduling Marijuana: What's Next?
Cannabis Law Now Podcast: How Florida Will Change the National Cannabis Landscape Through Amendment 3
The Presumption of Innocence Podcast: Special Edition | Episode 36 - Rolling Change: The DEA Turns Over a New Leaf on Marijuana Scheduling
Cannabis Law Now Podcast: Farmers First According to Humboldt Trim Company
Cannabis Law Now Podcast: THC Infused Beverages: Cantrip's Journey Through the Hemp-Derived Looking Glass
Cannabis Law Now Podcast: Cannabis Investing in the U.S. - The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
Cannabis Law Now Podcast: Catalyst Cannabis Takes on the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration Over Cannabis Excise Taxes
Cannabis Law Now Podcast: Cannabis Banking from the Inside: An Interview with Salal Credit Union
(Podcast) California Employment News: Expanded Workplace Protections Regarding Cannabis Use
California Employment News: Expanded Workplace Protections Regarding Cannabis Use
Cannabis Law Now Podcast: The ‘CannaBoies' Lawsuit and Why it Matters
On May 16, 2024, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced a plan to reschedule marijuana under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) from a schedule I to a schedule III controlled substance. The Attorney General and the...more
The Department of Justice’s move to reclassify marijuana as a less dangerous drug, on which it began formal proceedings on May 16, won’t legalize state-level adult use and medical marijuana unless it’s produced, sold, and...more
On May 16, 2024, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) released the proposed rule (Proposed Rule) to reschedule marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). The Office of Legal...more
Earlier this week, the Department of Justice proposed reclassifying cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III under the Controlled Substances Act. The move follows an August 2023 recommendation from the Department of Health...more
The sale of adult-use cannabis has been legalized in 24 states in the United States. But this does not mean there are no other legal impediments to the cannabis industry in those jurisdictions. For example, cannabis...more
While the cannabis community anxiously awaits what feels like Congress’ hundredth attempt to pass the SAFE Banking Act, there is one simple step that can be taken today to improve access to banking services for certain...more
For financial institutions who engage in marijuana-related banking services, the primary compliance challenge remains the disconnect between federal and state law, as it is still illegal to manufacture, distribute, or...more
Today, nearly four-fifths of the United States have regulated medical marijuana markets. Nearly half of the United States, consisting of twenty-one states along with Washington, D.C. and Guam, have acted to legalize...more
As we pass the halfway mark of 2022, it's a good time to reflect on what has happened, or not happened, with respect to the legal framework for the provision of financial services to marijuana-related businesses...more
One of the largest headwinds facing the cannabis industry is the lack of access to banking services. Many financial institutions refuse to serve the multibillion-dollar cannabis industry given the regulatory uncertainty...more
On December 3, 2019, four federal agencies, in consultation with state banking regulators, clarified the legal status of hemp growth and production under the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) for banks providing financial services to...more
On December 3, 2019, four federal agencies – the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”), the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”), and the Office of the...more
Marijuana is estimated to be a $10 billion industry and rapidly growing. Almost all of it is conducted in cash. Although legal in thirty three states plus Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and Guam, marijuana remains illegal at...more
The quasi-legal status of marijuana in today’s United States is raising serious questions about federalism and enforcement for U.S. financial institutions. It is well known that marijuana is still classified as a Schedule I...more
The myriad—and conflicting—state, federal and international laws governing the burgeoning marijuana industry have created a complicated legal landscape for financial institutions. In the United States, most states have...more
ON OCTOBER 2, 2012, kidnappers robbed and abducted a marijuana dispensary owner from his Newport Beach home. They then drove him to the Mojave Desert where they tortured him and demanded that he reveal where he had buried his...more
Federal efforts to reduce the restrictions placed on cannabis businesses that operate legally under state law are picking up, with new legislation proposed and indications from the administration that it will let states take...more
In the fast-growing legalized cannabis industry, one of the major obstacles for businesses has been—and continues to be—access to banking services. Because cannabis remains a Schedule I drug and unlawful at the federal level...more
Banks face even greater risks and are likely to back away from marijuana-related businesses after the U.S. Attorney General changed the federal government’s stance on legalized pot....more
On January 4, 2018, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions officially rescinded all of the prior Obama-era Department of Justice (DOJ) marijuana-related guidance, including the so-called “Cole Memo.” That guidance had provided...more
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) today issued a memorandum in which it rescinded guidance issued during the Obama Administration related to the enforcement of the Controlled Substances Act, and related money laundering...more
Everyone involved, or thinking about becoming involved, in the cannabis business is aware of the conflict between the laws of those states legalizing marijuana and the Controlled Substance Act (the “CSA”). The CSA is a...more
Investment advisors and broker-dealers ask more and more whether they can safely provide investment services to prospective customers in the marijuana industry. The answer is still that there is a risk of liability under...more
Can marijuana businesses receive federal copyright protection? Yes. The requirements for registration with the U.S. Copyright Office are that the work is original, creative and fixed in some form of expression. These...more
Part Two of a Three-Part Series - In the second part of this series, we explore the practical effects of the FinCEN and DOJ guidance documents on industries attempting to serve marijuana related business (“MRBs”). On June...more