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
Despite the proliferation of state laws that legalize the cultivation and sale of marijuana, federal law has remained an obstacle to access to the U.S. financial system for marijuana sellers and producers. With penalties...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
Live Life Federal Credit Union, a $69 million-asset credit union based in Fraser, Michigan, recently consented to a cease-and-desist order issued by the National Credit Union Administration Board (NCUA). The enforcement...more
On November 3rd, voters in Arizona, New Jersey, South Dakota, Montana, and Mississippi passed ballot measures to bring legal cannabis to each of their states. It’s not every year that we see states from opposite ends of the...more
In November 2018, Missouri voters passed Amendment 2, setting in motion state regulated medical marijuana. Over the last month, the Missouri Department of Health & Senior Services (DHSS) began approving license applications...more
FDIC and OCC Propose CRA Modernization Rule with Opt-Out for Small Banks The FDIC and the OCC have jointly proposed amendments to modernize the agencies’ Community Reinvestment Act (“CRA”) regulations, which are intended...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
Companies in the medical and recreational marijuana industry continue to face an uphill battle for access to financial services. Although a number of states have legalized the medicinal and/or recreational use of marijuana,...more
The Cannabis Banking Guidance from California’s Department of Business Oversight (DBO) offers California-chartered financial institutions serving cannabis-related businesses assurances that the DBO will not bring enforcement...more
In the early 1970s, I worked as a petroleum transfer engineer (aka service station attendant). In those halcyon days, we actually pumped the gas for customers, washed their windows and offered to check the oil. I remember one...more
Following last year’s passage of the 2018 Farm Bill, the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) issued a regulatory update in August of 2019 to federally insured credit unions. Citing growth in hemp-related commerce,...more
We regularly blog about the conflict between state and federal law related to cannabis and the uncertainty regarding how federal criminal and Bank Secrecy Act (“BSA”) law will, or will not, be enforced against financial...more
On March 26, the U.S. House Committee on Financial Services is scheduled to mark up the Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act of 2019. This Act aims to allow banks and financial institutions to engage in business...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
Federal legislators continue to struggle over the growing disconnect between increasing State legalization of the cannabis industry, and the continued illegality of cannabis under federal law....more
President Trump piqued the interest of participants in and observers of the marijuana industry when he stated in early June that he would “probably” support recently proposed bipartisan legislation aimed at removing the...more
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”), a bureau of the Department of the Treasury, issued guidance on February 14, 2014 (the “Cannabis Guidance”), to clarify Bank Secrecy Act expectations for financial...more
Federal law prohibits the manufacture, possession, or use of marijuana for any purpose, including medical purposes. This prohibition notwithstanding, as of January of 2018, 29 states plus the District of Columbia have...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
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