The Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (2018 Farm Bill) legalized hemp by removing the crop and its derivatives from the definition of marijuana under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) and by providing a detailed framework for the cultivation of hemp. The 2018 Farm Bill gives the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) regulatory authority over hemp […]
Business Basics, Coronavirus March 27th, 2020
Nobody could have predicted the situation that the cannabis industry now finds itself in. Just a few months ago, it looked like there were challenging financial issues for many cannabis businesses across the country. Now, many states that have imposed coronavirus lockdowns have declared cannabis businesses to be essential so that they can stay open, […]
California, Coronavirus March 18th, 2020
We just published a post on what cannabis businesses can be doing to stay ahead of the curve with respect to the coronavirus (COVID-19), which is shutting down businesses across the globe. In this post, my goal is to talk about things that California can do to ease the situation for California cannabis companies, all […]
Hemp/CBD, International March 12th, 2020
We’ve been writing about various European countries’ approaches to regulating hemp (or auf Deutsch, Hanf) and hemp-derived cannabidiol (which I’ll refer to as “CBD”). While readers of the blog know that the legalization of hemp via the 2018 Farm Bell led to a massive CBD explosion in the United States, it’s only starting to dawn […]
The Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (2018 Farm Bill) legalized hemp by removing the crop and its derivatives from the definition of marijuana under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) and by providing a detailed framework for the cultivation of hemp. The 2018 Farm Bill gives the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) regulatory authority over hemp […]
California, Litigation March 6th, 2020
We’ve written a good amount on how ugly litigation will be. There’s federal illegality and the possibility that a court refuse to rule on a contract dispute because cannabis is federally illegal. Companies can be sued for false advertising and have all of their profits attributable to the false advertising disgorged by competitors. Allegedly false […]
Legal Issues, Litigation February 17th, 2020
A lawyer I know once told me that the primary motivation behind drafting a contract should not be making each party’s obligations clear or negotiating better terms, but instead should be ensuring that when there is litigation, that party is in the best possible position to win. Having written and litigated numerous contracts, I could […]
The Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (“2018 Farm Bill”) legalized hemp by removing the crop and its derivatives from the definition of marijuana under the Controlled Substances Act (“CSA”) and by providing a detailed framework for the cultivation of hemp. The 2018 Farm Bill gives the US Department of Agriculture (“USDA”) regulatory authority over hemp […]
California February 7th, 2020
Last year, the California cannabis agencies started to ramp up enforcement activities against unlicensed operators. Still, if you ask any licensed cannabis business, enforcement against unlicensed competition is far from where it needs to be. It was widely reported last year, for example, that there were 3,000 illegal cannabis businesses in California. My best guess is that […]
California, Data / Cyber January 30th, 2020
We’ve been writing a lot lately about recent major changes in federal hemp laws that will likely affect every hemp company in the United States (see here, here, and here). While we’re on the topic of dramatic legal changes, it’s probably a good idea to talk about a California privacy law that’s about to take effect and require […]
