Welcome back to the buzz, our monthly cannabis news and policy update. Your at-a-glance source for regulatory developments, agency announcements, and trends impacting the cannabis industry. In this edition of the buzz,...more
Federal cannabis policy is evolving quickly, and key details will turn on how the Department of Justice and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency finalize any Schedule III action, what accompanying guidance follows, and how...more
Issued on December 18, 2025, President Trump’s Executive Order 14370, “Increasing Medical Marijuana and Cannabidiol Research” (Marijuana EO), is a significant federal policy shift regarding marijuana. The Marijuana EO itself...more
On December 18, 2025, President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing federal agencies to reclassify marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) (Increasing Medical Marijuana...more
President Trump issued an executive order today that directs federal agencies to prioritize and advance the long-running effort to reclassify marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III under the Controlled Substances Act...more
On Dec. 18th, President Trump signed an executive order today directing the Attorney General to expedite the rescheduling of marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III under the Controlled Substances Act. ...more
Thursday, December 18, 2025, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to expedite the reclassification of cannabis. The executive order directed agencies to begin moving forward with the plan to transfer cannabis from...more
On December 18, 2025, President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing federal agencies to reclassify cannabis from a Schedule I to a Schedule III drug under the federal Controlled Substances Act, a policy change...more
A few weeks ago, someone at a holiday party asked “Whitt, why doesn’t Budding Trends take on the weighty legal issues of the day and instead resort to cheap pop culture references and puns?” I thought about responding with a...more
Ultra Health operates licensed medical cannabis dispensaries and cultivation facilities in New Mexico. On Oct. 2, 2024, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued Ultra Health a notice of deficiency for its tax years ending...more
It’s not always bad news when cannabis operators interact with the federal government. After all, the federal government largely allows marijuana companies to operate in an overwhelming majority of states without federal...more
A quick review of the cannabis landscape reveals that most of the tax-related activity remains at the state level. At present, most states have decriminalized the use of cannabis products; it remains illegal in only a...more
With October’s deadline for taxpayers on tax return filing extension for tax year 2024 quickly approaching, this alert provides updates to our post in May on the exploding trend of cannabis tax filers taking the uncertain tax...more
Cannabis businesses' wages are ineligible for business income deductions for pass-throughs because they sell controlled substances, according to the U.S. Tax Court. The ruling on Sept. 11, 2025 clarifies that wages disallowed...more
Cannabis businesses, while legal in many states, face many challenges due to federal law. One of the significant challenges is federal effective tax rates that can easily exceed 50%. The high effective tax rates are caused by...more
What Are ESOPs and Why Do They Matter for Cannabis Operators - Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs) are federally authorized retirement benefit structures designed to hold company stock in a trust on behalf of employees....more
Employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) have been used as a business succession strategy by employers across many industries. In the cannabis industry, ESOPs have come and gone and come again as a trendy topic promising to fix...more
A recent 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling upheld a lower court decision that the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) does not violate federal law. The decision stems from Canna Provisions’ lawsuit against the government...more
Cannabis companies are increasingly taking non-280E positions on their current year federal income tax returns, while many, such as public “MSOs,” have amended prior years’ returns to reflect this position. Foley Hoag’s Tax...more
Welcome to the buzz, our monthly cannabis news and policy update. Your at-a-glance source for regulatory developments, agency announcements, and trends impacting the cannabis industry. - This month's highlights include: ...more
The International Cannabis Bar Association (INCBA) is thrilled to announce the highly anticipated Cannabis Law Institute 2024 (CLI 2024), the marquee conference dedicated to advancing legal excellence in the rapidly evolving...more
On May 16, 2024, the US Department of Justice submitted a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to reschedule marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III within the Controlled Substances Act....more
The news has been a flurry of information and excitement following confirmed reports that the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”) will soon propose a new rule to reschedule cannabis from a Schedule I controlled...more
If you give me an opportunity to quote George Harrison, I’m going to do it. In “Taxman,” he wrote: Should five percent appear too small Be thankful I don’t take it all ‘Cause I’m the taxman - I suspect “The Quiet One”...more