On May 3, the District Court for the District of Columbia ( “trial court”) dismissed a petition filed by the Hemp Industries Association and others (“Petitioners”) challenging a DEA interim final rule (the “Rule”) that amended its regulations following the enactment of the Agricultural Improvement Act of 2018 (“2018 Farm Bill”). Although not a good
California’s cannabis regime is set up to separate every point in the supply chain into different license types: cultivation, manufacturing, distribution, testing, and retail sales, to name a few. Except for a few vertically integrated companies, virtually all cannabis businesses must rely on other companies in the supply chain to get products from farm to
Watch HERE! New York just became the latest state to legalize recreational cannabis. It will likely be several months before industry regulations are released and license applications are possible, but NOW is the time to start preparing. Join Harris Bricken’s lead New York cannabis attorney, Simon Malinowski for a FREE hour-long, Q&A webinar, TOMORROW Tuesday, May 4th, at 2 pm
In January 2020, Governor Newsom announced that he intended to have the Bureau of Cannabis Control (BCC), California Department of Food and Agriculture’s CalCannabis Program (CDFA), and California Department of Public Health’s Manufactured Cannabis Safety Branch (CDPH), consolidated into a single cannabis agency: the Department of Cannabis Control (DCC) (as summarized in the Governor’s 2021
This post discusses the use of the federal “illegality defense” in connection with third-party subpoenas in litigation. Let’s start with a review of the illegality defense. Cannabis litigators, investors, and companies who decide to file a lawsuit arising out of a business transaction likely are familiar with the “illegality defense.” An initial question is choosing
Most people know that any party to litigation unquestionably owes an “uncompromising duty to preserve” what they know or reasonably should know may be relevant evidence in their lawsuit. What they don’t know is this is true before any discovery requests are served, and sometimes, even before the complaint is filed. Here’s a primer on
Over the next few months, California’s three cannabis agencies are going to consolidate their authority over the entire state’s industry into one new mega-agency: the Department of Cannabis Control. This is undoubtedly a good idea as having three agencies overseeing the same industry has been cumbersome, ineffective, and inefficient for many licensees. many other states
Buying a cannabis business does not occur in a matter of days, and transactions fall apart for a variety of reasons, as we discussed in Part 1 of this blog series focused on the buy-side of a cannabis M&A transaction. In this Part 2, we focus on the regulatory environment, discussing concepts that first-time buyers
Listen HERE or stream on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Stitcher, or Soundcloud! At Harris Bricken, we keep close tabs on what is happening around the world, and we know that our friends and clients do, as well. We are happy to provide this podcast series: Global Law and Business, hosted by international attorneys Fred Rocafort and Jonathan Bench, where we look at the world
With a target goal of 50% of New York cannabis licenses issued to social and economic equity applicants (Equity Applicants), we thought it would be helpful to provide a detailed explanation of the Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act’s (MRTA) social and economic equity plan, how the license application process works vis-à-vis Equity Applicants, and critical
