We at Budding Trends have been optimistic, and then cautiously optimistic, that the legalization of psychedelics was close. This month, however, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration dealt a blow to our predictions. FDA...more
Not every blog post contains earth-shattering news. Count this among that group, but I encourage you not to ignore the implications and possibly the forecasting for cannabis operators in litigation going forward in this...more
The Alabama medical cannabis program has been FUBAR for a while now, but there was at least some good news for two applicants last week....more
8/13/2024
/ Alabama ,
Business Licenses ,
Cannabis Products ,
Cannabis-Related Businesses (CRBs) ,
Dispensaries ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Licenses ,
Marijuana ,
Marijuana Cultivation ,
Marijuana Related Businesses ,
Medical Marijuana ,
State and Local Government ,
State Legislatures
While marijuana advocates celebrate the potential rescheduling of marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III, the taxman has made clear that marijuana remains a Schedule I substance subject to Section 280E of the Internal...more
Avid readers know we have speculated that the legalization of psychedelics as a prescription medicine was “closer than ever.” Unfortunately, for proponents of the legalization of psychedelics like MDMA, progress is rarely a...more
The long-awaited, and recently leaked, news that DEA would begin the process of rescheduling marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III became a reality yesterday when DEA issued a formal notice of proposed rulemaking. As we...more
5/17/2024
/ Biden Administration ,
Cannabis Products ,
Cannabis-Related Businesses (CRBs) ,
Comment Period ,
Controlled Substances ,
Controlled Substances Act ,
DEA ,
Marijuana ,
Marijuana Related Businesses ,
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Schedule I Drugs
As we at Budding Trends reported last week, the DEA is set to finally accept the recommendation of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to reschedule marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III under the...more
5/7/2024
/ Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Cannabis Products ,
Congressional Review Act ,
Controlled Substances Act ,
DEA ,
Decriminalization of Marijuana ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Final Rules ,
Judicial Review ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Marijuana ,
Marijuana Related Businesses ,
Medical Marijuana ,
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) ,
OMB ,
Public Comment ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Schedule I Drugs ,
State and Local Government
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
The novel cannabinoid industry took another hit recently as a bipartisan group of 21 attorneys general urged Congress to make clear that states may regulate, and even prohibit, intoxicating products derived from hemp....more
As Bradley previously reported, the Federal Trade Commission at the beginning of last year issued a notice of proposed rulemaking to effectively ban employee noncompete provisions as an unfair method of competition in...more
4/26/2024
/ Cannabis-Related Businesses (CRBs) ,
Competition ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Exemptions ,
Federal Bans ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Final Rules ,
FTC Act ,
Marijuana Related Businesses ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Proposed Rules ,
Proprietary Information ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
Section 5 ,
Unfair Competition
The Commonwealth cannot find common ground on cannabis. In the latest in another volley in the back and forth between the Virginia Legislature and governor’s office, Gov. Glenn Youngkin recently vetoed a bill that would have...more
Supporters of hemp-derived cannabidiol (CBD) who hoped the Food and Drug Administration would adopt a more progressive view of CBD were disappointed when FDA Chief Robert Califf recently testified that FDA does not consider...more
4/23/2024
/ Cannabidiol (CBD) oil ,
Cannabis Products ,
Decriminalization of Marijuana ,
Dietary Supplements ,
Farm Bill ,
FDA Approval ,
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ,
Health and Safety ,
Hemp ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Marijuana ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Regulatory Requirements
It turns out that if you want to know the Department of Justice’s policy on marijuana enforcement, you just have to sue them. In a remarkably candid showing of the DOJ’s current policy concerning marijuana enforcement,...more
Having spent nearly every day of the last three years thinking about Alabama’s medical cannabis licensing, and the past year closely following the seemingly endless litigation that continues to this day, I took special note...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
There is a great line in the wonderful film Charlie Wilson’s War, where Charlie Wilson (played remarkably by the inimitable Tom Hanks) describes the successful, if relatively covert, involvement of the United States...more
During a hearing today on SB276, a proposal released only yesterday that would fundamentally change the landscape of Alabama’s nascent medical cannabis program, would have probably been less one-sided if the proposal called...more
Well, it’s here. Late yesterday afternoon Sens. Tim Melson and David Sessions introduced the long-awaited “legislative fix” to help get Alabama’s long-stalled Alabama medical cannabis licensing program off the ground. The...more
We here at Budding Trends strive not to be partisan, but that doesn’t mean we hide our gaze from political realities affecting the cannabis industry. Today we turn that focus on the American presidential election coming this...more
The Texas Health and Human Services Commission, on behalf of the Texas Department of State Health Services, recently announced that it was accepting public comments to the current rules governing consumer hemp products in the...more
Novel psychiatric cannabinoids legalized by the 2018 Farm Bill remain under attack by state regulators. Most recently, the Arizona attorney general opined that “Arizona law does not permit the sale of delta-8 and other...more
Following the lead of President Joe Biden’s pardon of simple marijuana possession, Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healy recently announced plans to issue a series of pardons for those convicted of misdemeanor marijuana possession...more
If you know either of us, you know neither of us would pass up a chance to say, “I told you so.” As we looked ahead to 2024 in January, we speculated that psychedelics could be legalized as a prescription medicine. Now, not...more
In case you missed it, Fat Joe visited the White House late last week to discuss federal marijuana policy. 2024, man.
During a roundtable discussion with Mr. Joe (?), Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, and several individuals who...more
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