Thoroughbreds shouldn’t be the only ones racing towards a finish line in Kentucky in the near future. Those vying for a precious medical cannabis business license in Kentucky’s new medical cannabis program will also need to...more
5/3/2024
/ Applications ,
Business Licenses ,
Cannabis Products ,
Cannabis-Related Businesses (CRBs) ,
Dispensaries ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Marijuana ,
Marijuana Cultivation ,
Marijuana Related Businesses ,
Medical Marijuana ,
State and Local Government ,
State Legislatures
Cue the Ron Paul “It’s Happening” gif and shout it from the rooftops: DEA will reschedule marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act, per a report from the AP. The United States federal...more
It’s not a joke. On April 1, 2024, the Florida Supreme Court ruled that voters will decide in November whether Florida will become the 24th state to legalize adult-use marijuana. In the face of significant opposition that...more
4/11/2024
/ Ballot Measures ,
Cannabis Products ,
Decriminalization of Marijuana ,
Florida ,
General Elections ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Marijuana ,
Recreational Use ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
State and Local Government ,
State Legislatures
Earlier this week, the Florida legislature passed a bill (SB 1698) that will limit the amount of THC in hemp-derived products and threatens to upend the novel cannabinoid industry in the state.
For the past few years,...more
3/12/2024
/ Agricultural Sector ,
Cannabidiol (CBD) oil ,
Cannabis Products ,
Cannabis-Related Businesses (CRBs) ,
Decriminalization of Marijuana ,
Florida ,
Governor DeSantis ,
Hemp ,
Hemp Related Businesses ,
Marijuana ,
Marijuana Related Businesses ,
New Legislation ,
State and Local Government
Now that the dust is starting to settle on the recent news that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has recommended to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) that marijuana be moved from Schedule I to...more
9/20/2023
/ Advertising ,
Banking Sector ,
Cannabis Products ,
Cannabis-Related Businesses (CRBs) ,
Decriminalization of Marijuana ,
Dispensaries ,
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Marijuana ,
Marijuana Related Businesses ,
Medical Marijuana ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
State and Local Government
Those long-awaited proposed revisions to the Mississippi Department of Health’s medical cannabis program regulations dropped last Thursday afternoon. Thankfully, the department released a red-lined version, highlighting...more
9/20/2023
/ Background Checks ,
Business Licenses ,
Business Operations ,
Cannabis Products ,
Compliance ,
Decriminalization of Marijuana ,
Dispensaries ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Health Care Providers ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Marijuana ,
Marijuana Related Businesses ,
Medical Marijuana ,
Product Labels ,
Product Packaging ,
Proposed Amendments ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
State and Local Government ,
Work Permits
For years, the cannabis industry has been the purview of entrepreneurs and those willing to operate in gray areas — those willing to take some measure of risk to recover the premium on that risk. As cannabis has become legal...more
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
A question frequently encountered in the cannabis industry involves a cannabis user’s gun rights. This stems from the ever-present federal and state law tension overlaying marijuana in the United States — thanks to the...more
8/16/2023
/ Cannabis Products ,
Controlled Substances ,
Controlled Substances Act ,
Firearms ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Marijuana ,
Medical Marijuana ,
New York State Rifle & Pistol Association Inc et al v Bruen Superintendent of New York State Police et al ,
SCOTUS ,
Second Amendment ,
State and Local Government
Pursuant to the Mississippi Medical Cannabis Act, Mississippi residents can petition the state’s Department of Health to add new serious medical conditions or their treatments to the existing list of conditions that qualify a...more
Word began circulating a few days ago that tobacco giant Philip Morris has agreed to purchase Israeli cannabis company Syqe Medical for a whopping $650 million if certain future events come to fruition. While the two...more
If you haven’t heard, the patient numbers in Mississippi’s new medical cannabis program are not rising at the pace many hoped they would. This has caused quite a bit of concern across the industry down here. A healthy pool of...more
4/20/2023
/ Advertising ,
Cannabis Products ,
Cannabis-Related Businesses (CRBs) ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Department of Revenue ,
Marijuana ,
Marijuana Related Businesses ,
Marketing ,
Medical Marijuana ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
State and Local Government
A revamped Mississippi Medical Cannabis Act heads to Gov. Tate Reeves’s desk after both chambers amended the law in several key respects, most notably to help improve patient count numbers that have created quite a bit of...more
Oh Daddy! It’s not “Rumours” or one of your “Dreams” – although it may be “Second Hand News” to our most knowledgeable readers: A federal court in Washington recently upheld the state’s cannabis residency requirement for...more
As we turn the calendar to another year, and because we run a cannabis law blog, it seems fitting to write about year one of Mississippi’s medical cannabis program and to preview what 2023 may have in store as the program...more
In the gift-giving spirit of the season, the Mississippi Department of Health has dropped proposed additions and revisions to the agency’s regulations for medical cannabis cultivators, processors, testing facilities,...more
12/21/2022
/ Cannabis Products ,
Dispensaries ,
Marijuana ,
Marijuana Cultivation ,
Marijuana Related Businesses ,
Medical Marijuana ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Public Comment ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
State and Local Government
For decades, the federal government only allowed scientists to research marijuana grown on the campus of the University of Mississippi. While Mississippi-grown cannabis will continue to be the subject of federally sanctioned...more
“Progress, far from consisting in change, depends on retentiveness… Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
– George Santayana, The Life of Reason -
We originally aimed to quote Santana rather...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
The changes in the cannabis industry in Southeastern United States represent some of the most surprising and remarkable changes in the history of the industry...
Originally published by Bloomberg Law....more
9/15/2022
/ Alabama ,
Arkansas ,
Cannabis Products ,
Cannabis-Related Businesses (CRBs) ,
Decriminalization of Marijuana ,
Florida ,
Georgia ,
Louisiana ,
Marijuana ,
Marijuana Related Businesses ,
Medical Marijuana ,
North Carolina ,
Proposed Legislation ,
State and Local Government ,
State Legislatures ,
Tennessee
As we predicted back in April, disputes between medical cannabis businesses and counties or municipalities over local zoning ordinances and permits are starting to arise. Participants in Mississippi’s medical cannabis program...more
In late 2018, my esteemed partner, Whitt Steineker, recruited me to join the firm’s newly formed Cannabis Industry team. Around that time, groups in Mississippi were actively seeking signatures to get a ballot initiative in...more
May 4th celebrates Star Wars, and May 5th is Cinco de Mayo. While not as popular, May 3rd still likely means a lot of different things to a lot of different people. But, in Mississippi, in 2022, May 3rd was a date circled on...more
5/6/2022
/ Cannabis Products ,
Cannabis-Related Businesses (CRBs) ,
Deadlines ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Licenses ,
Local Ordinance ,
Marijuana ,
Marijuana Related Businesses ,
Medical Marijuana ,
Municipalities ,
Opt-Outs ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
State and Local Government ,
Zoning Laws