According to a report from Bloomberg News, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is officially recommending to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) that marijuana be moved from Schedule I to Schedule III...more
As the midterm elections come to an end, we revisit the future of the SAFE Banking Act and the hurdles we expect to see in the coming Congressional term. If passed, the SAFE Banking Act would remove uncertainties surrounding...more
Welcome to the third installment of the Editors’ Roundtable, in which our editors – Whitt Steineker, Jay Wright, Hunter Robinson, and Slates Veazey – discuss cannabis issues in the news and take a stab at where the cannabis...more
Yesterday, President Joe Biden made two historic announcements which he described as steps to “end” the federal government’s “failed approach” to marijuana. First, he is issuing mass pardons for federal convictions of simple...more
10/7/2022
/ Biden Administration ,
Cannabis Products ,
Decriminalization of Marijuana ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Deregulation ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Marijuana ,
Presidential Pardons ,
Presidential Proclamations ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Wrongful Conviction
Welcome to the second installment of the Editors’ Roundtable, in which our editors – Whitt Steineker, Jay Wright, Hunter Robinson, and Slates Veazey – discuss cannabis issues in the news and take a stab at where the cannabis...more
10/5/2022
/ Cannabis Products ,
Cannabis-Related Businesses (CRBs) ,
Dispensaries ,
Hemp Cultivation ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Marijuana ,
Marijuana Cultivation ,
Marijuana Related Businesses ,
Medical Marijuana ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
State and Local Government
Alabama became the 36th state to allow cannabis for medical use when Gov. Kay Ivey signed into law the Darren Wesley ‘Ato’ Hall Compassion Act on May 17, 2021. The act establishes a process through which applicants will...more
7/29/2021
/ Agribusiness ,
Alabama ,
Applicants ,
Applications ,
Cannabis-Related Businesses (CRBs) ,
Dispensaries ,
Governor Ivey ,
Licenses ,
Licensing Rules ,
Marijuana ,
Marijuana Cultivation ,
Marijuana Related Businesses ,
Medical Marijuana ,
Required Documentation ,
State and Local Government
After 10 months of anticipation from the American hemp industry, on October 31, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) published its interim final rule (Rule) establishing the regulatory framework for hemp...more
11/5/2019
/ Agricultural Sector ,
Cannabis-Related Businesses (CRBs) ,
Controlled Substances Act ,
DEA ,
Farm Bill ,
Hemp ,
Interim Final Rules (IFR) ,
Interstate Commerce ,
Marijuana ,
Marijuana Cultivation ,
Tribal Governments ,
USDA
The Alabama Medical Cannabis Study Commission held its third meeting in Montgomery on October 3. The majority of the meeting centered around two presentations. The first presenter, Curt Harper, a toxicologist from the Alabama...more
The Alabama Medical Cannabis Study Commission held its first meeting in Montgomery on August 13. The commission, formed in the last days of the 2019 legislative session, is composed of 15 individuals appointed by various...more
Legislation that would open financial services to marijuana-related businesses operating in states that have legalized marijuana took another small, but important, step Tuesday. The Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Senate...more
Since more than half of the states in the U.S. have decriminalized marijuana (those varieties of the Cannabis plant with intoxicating properties), the marijuana business has been growing rapidly in this country. Like any...more
[This is the first in a series of client alerts regarding the status of medical marijuana efforts in Alabama.]
Is Alabama poised to join the growing number of states allowing the use of medical marijuana under state law?...more
Centuries after American colonists were required by law to grow hemp, and decades after it was then outlawed by Congress, one of the nation’s oldest and most versatile crops is poised for a resurgence. The 2018 Farm Bill,...more
2/25/2019
/ Agricultural Sector ,
Cannabidiol (CBD) oil ,
Controlled Substances Act ,
Decriminalization of Marijuana ,
Department of Agriculture ,
Farm Bill ,
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ,
Hemp ,
Investors ,
Marijuana ,
Marijuana Cultivation ,
Marijuana Related Businesses ,
Medical Marijuana ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Research and Development
On January 17, 2018, Florida’s new governor, Ron DeSantis, delivered news that could supercharge the growth of Florida’s medical-cannabis industry. Governor DeSantis indicated he may drop the State’s appeal from a trial...more
2/5/2019
/ Decriminalization of Marijuana ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Dispensaries ,
Licensing Rules ,
Marijuana ,
Marijuana Cultivation ,
Marijuana Related Businesses ,
Medical Marijuana ,
Smoking Bans ,
State Constitutions ,
Vertical Integration
For years, the “legal” cannabis industry – operating in states that have legalized cannabis under state law despite its long-standing prohibition under federal law – and the financial institutions that serve the industry have...more
Today marks a significant shift in cannabis policy, both domestically and internationally, as Canada becomes the first industrialized nation in the world, and only the second nation overall, to legalize cannabis. This follows...more
Since 1996, when California became the first state to legalize marijuana (at the time, for medicinal purposes only), 28 additional states and the District of Columbia have legalized marijuana to some extent. Public support...more
5/29/2018
/ Banking Sector ,
BSA/AML ,
Cole Memorandum ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Decriminalization of Marijuana ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Dispensaries ,
FDIC ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinCEN ,
Marijuana ,
Marijuana Related Businesses ,
Medical Marijuana ,
Policy Memorandums ,
Regulatory Standards ,
Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) ,
Trump Administration