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
Earlier this week, the Department of Justice proposed reclassifying cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III under the Controlled Substances Act. The move follows an August 2023 recommendation from the Department of Health...more
Every election it seems like the country inches closer to cannabis being legal at the federal level. Until that day comes, however, the question of whether those in the cannabis industry can seek bankruptcy relief remains....more
There Has Been Little Movement in Federal Legalization. This has led to cannabis investors and companies to downgrade expectations for federal legalization and focus their strategies on state reform. Federal lawmakers...more
From SPACs to COVID-19, several trends have appeared in core filing activity in recent years. The data below is from Securities Class Action Filings—2023 Midyear Assessment....more
Welcome back to The Week in Weed, your Friday look at what’s happening in the world of legalized marijuana. This week, we have an update on the latest incarnation of the SAFE Banking Act....more
Tenth Circuit Upholds Licensing Agency’s Discretion When Awarding Cannabis-Related Licenses - The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit upheld the dismissal of a suit on April 18, 2023, challenging the Utah...more
Today, nearly four-fifths of the United States have regulated medical marijuana markets. Nearly half of the United States, consisting of twenty-one states along with Washington, D.C. and Guam, have acted to legalize...more
Welcome back to The Week in Weed, your Friday look at what’s happening in the world of legalized marijuana. This week, we saw some federal activity on medical marijuana for veterans. We have an update on those SAFE...more
Bob Seger’s “Against the Wind” is an anthem to love and growing old. Among its many great lines is “wish I didn’t know now what I didn’t know then.” Can you tell I recently turned 40? But I write today not about what I...more
The CannaBusiness Advisory Spotlight Series features expert perspectives from Burns & Levinson clients and contacts who are blazing new trails in the cannabis market....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
Hope soared with the possibility of federal cannabis reform in 2021. And for good reason – the induction of a new, more liberal administration, rapid state-level legalization, broad support by Americans, and growing...more
On February 2, 2022, Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves signed legislation authorizing cannabis for medical use. Mississippi is now the 37th state to legalize medical cannabis. The passage of SB 2095 (the "Act") comes more than...more
The House of Representatives has approved cannabis banking legislation for the fifth time. Will this be the year the Senate finally approves this legislation?...more
On March 24, 2021, Defendants Hamid (Ray) Akhavan and Ruben Weigand were found guilty of defrauding banks as part of a scheme they had set up to help cannabis company Eaze accept credit card payments for marijuana purchases....more
New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo announced during his Jan. 6, 2021, State of the State Address a proposal to legalize and create a comprehensive system to oversee and regulate cannabis in New York state. The plan would establish...more
FEDERAL NEWS - The big news this week was the FDA’s report to Congress on CBD. The report did not set out a timeline for usage guidelines, citing the need for more data. Commissioner Stephen Hahn did indicate he thought...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 – 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
Since the effective date of the 2018 Farm Bill, banking and the inability to acquire financing have been major impediments for the hemp industry. While demand for hemp continues to grow, banking regulations have still been...more
First introduced in 2013, the SAFE Banking Act passed the House 321-103 Wednesday, September 25th, 2019. This bill provides safe harbor to banks and financial institutions doing business with state-legal cannabis businesses,...more
On August 26, 2019, the West Virginia State Treasurer’s Office (the “Office”) tentatively awarded the state’s medical cannabis banking and fee-processing services to Element Federal Credit Union (“Element”). Element was one...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
With momentum growing for legal adult-use cannabis in Illinois following the election of J.B. Pritzker to the governorship, the Illinois General Assembly is already proposing legislation that would loosen regulations...more
A new study has cast a shadow on plans for a state-owned bank to service the cannabis industry in California. After recreational pot became legal in the state last year, regulators considered the option of a state-run bank...more