Former Minnesota Governor and ex-professional wrestler Jesse Ventura is the latest celebrity to start a cannabis brand. Ventura served as Governor of the Land of 10,000 Lakes from 1999 to 2003. One could say that no other Governor serving during the late ’90’s or early 2000’s had quite the extensive background in variously different forms
Every election cycle, we grade the many of the presidential candidates based on their track record with cannabis (here’s our summary of 2020’s main candidates). We kicked off 2024 with our analysis of incumbent President Joe Biden (Grade C), and followed up with Republican challenger Ron DeSantis (Grade C+), who recently dropped out of the
Welcome to the eighth annual “State of the State” post on Oregon cannabis. Last year was memorable for Oregon the industry, pockmarked by OLCC scandal, heavy regulatory swings, and even marquee litigation. We also saw the state’s first very-large-business failure, more trade association consolidation, and other altibajos as my mother-in-law might say. Let’s go! Sales
Nondisclosure agreements (sometimes abbreviated, “NDAs”) are some of the most important agreements a company can sign. At the same time, they can be some of the simplest agreements to get in place. Today I want to do a deeper dive into nondisclosure agreements, what they contain, and why they are important. What is a nondisclosure
We are helping build out another cannabis banking program here in Oregon. My law firm has done a series of these for credit unions (“CU”s) and other financial institutions (“FIs”) going back to 2014. We have also handled a good bit of hemp banking work– mostly in 2019 and 2020 before that industry cratered. In
Oregon’s governor recently vetoed an effort to create a state bank for marijuana businesses, in another blow to the struggling industry. The lack of consistent, equitable access to banking has been recurring issue for Oregon marijuana businesses and those in other states. Federal reform through the Secure and Fair Enforcement Banking Act (SAFE Act) has
It could soon be illegal to smoke marijuana in public if some New York politicians have their way. New York Assemblyman Michael Novakhov and Senator Mario R. Mattera are co-sponsors of a new bill that would ban the public use of cannabis unless a local government opts in to permit such public use. As it
California’s cannabis industry is a mess. Between the rampant illegal market, onerous taxation, unnecessarily complicated regulations, debt defaults, and a host of other factors, things have never been worse. Businesses big and small are imploding. Without federal bankruptcy protection, the best tool available to insolvent and nearly insolvent companies is gone. So we’re going to
It’s been an eventful month in Oregon cannabis. Below are some early summer notes on three things we’ve been doing and watching and writing about. The Chalice receivership I covered this last month as the ship was going down. Today, the Oregon receivership is well underway and we’re getting regular notices. It hasn’t been smooth
Ever since Congress passed the Agricultural Improvements Act of 2018 (or 2018 Farm Bill), people have tried to find creative ways to sell intoxicating hemp-derived products. One example of this is THCA products, such as THCA flower, which contain very high levels of THCA. But is THCA legal? Today, I want to examine legality of
