canna law blog

Marijuana And The SEC

One of my clients sent me a link to this story, asking me to comment on whether it was really newsworthy. My response was not really; the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) decision to allow a listing of Terra Tech Corp. is not a major surprise. It is progress, yes, but it was also somewhat inevitable,

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Legal Hemp in Oregon: It’s About Time

Recreational marijuana isn’t the only thing to get excited about in Oregon. Just this week, Oregon’s rules to obtain an industrial hemp permit just went into effect and Oregon’s Department of Agriculture (ODA) has begun accepting applications to grow hemp. Oregonians should expect to see the state’s very first state-legal hemp crop in the ground this

canna law blog

Marijuana Workers And Unions: The 4-1-1

The federal government continues to surprise us with its varied treatment of marijuana: this time  by federally recognizing marijuana workers’ rights. Specifically, the National Labor Relations Board (for the second time) is preparing to hear marijuana workers’ allegations against their New Jersey medical marijuana dispensary employer for retaliation, union-busting, and unfair working conditions. That hearing is

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Marijuana Taxes: The IRS On Section 280E

Almost everyone in the cannabis industry loathes Section 280E of the Federal Income Tax Code. For more on why this is the case, check out In the Wake of Marijuana Legalization, It’s Time to Repeal Section 280E.   Section 280E prevents cannabis producers, processors and retailers from deducting expenses from their income, except for those considered

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Marijuana Advertising And The First Amendment

Our cannabis lawyers been asked several times in the past couple of weeks whether we have any opinion on a Washington Superior Court decision that came out earlier this month that grappled with the interplay of government regulation and commercial free speech. There’s no copy of that Superior Court opinion available online, but in this

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Buying and Selling Marijuana Business Licenses

Our cannabis lawyers are often asked what it takes to purchase or sell a marijuana business license. This question from our clients sometimes comes up during their license application phase and it sometimes comes up after their licensing has been finalized. People tend to think of marijuana licenses as fungible commodities. This makes sense, as most

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They Said It On Marijuana, Quotable Saturday, Part XLV

Bill Maher has guts. Whether it comes to speaking out (really strongly) against terrorism or in favor of marijuana, he can always be counted on to speak truth to power and to say exactly what is on his mind, and usually in a witty and insightful way. Agree with him or not (and nobody always does), he is

canna law blog

Marijuana And Social Media: #YouCantPostThat

If you follow us on Facebook, you probably know about our ongoing saga with the social media giant over its having banned our promoting our page or our posts. Why is Facebook blocking us from promoting content from the Canna Law Blog on its pages? According to the Facebook Advertising Guidelines, and from what we have been

canna law blog

Moving Marijuana Across State Lines: Still A Felony

Now that four states have legalized recreational marijuana and another twenty or so states have legal medical marijuana regimes, we are hearing people talk about how taking their legal pot across state borders by car or by air is no big deal. Unfortunately, it is a big deal. A really big deal. It should first

canna law blog

They Said it on Marijuana, Quotable Saturday, Part XLI

“Los Angeles residents are going to vote on a tax on anything sold in a medical marijuana dispensary. If the measure passes the city could be solvent within 45 minutes.” –Conan O’Brien Though meant to be humorous, there is a lot of truth to this joke. Like it or not, higher level arguments regarding the