new york cannabis task force

New York Task Force to Target Unregulated Cannabis Sales

At a press conference on December 15, 2022, New York City Mayor Adams announced the creation of a joint task force between the New York City Sheriff’s Office, the NYPD, the city’s Department of Consumer and Worker Protections and the New York State Office of Cannabis Management to weed out illegal dispensaries. What the task

drive-thru delivery

Oregon Cannabis Rules Update: Drive-Thru, Delivery

Last month, my Portland colleague and cannabis business litigator extraordinaire Jesse Mondry authored a post titled Oregon Cannabis: Drive-Thru Marijuana Sales Ending? On Friday, December 16, we got an answer to that question. The answer, I’m glad to report, is “not at this time.” That determination came via the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission’s (OLCC)

drug paraphernalia

Importing “Drug Paraphernalia” after Eteros and Keirton

Many thanks for all who attended our December 1 webinar on “Cannabis and International Trade Issues 2022.” The event was hosted by the National Customs Broker and Freight Forwarders Association of America Educational Institute (NEI). We received many questions from the audience that we were not able to get to. We plan to cover some of

cannabis security interests

Cannabis Security Interests: Dos and Don’ts

I previously wrote about how the cannabis industry should prepare itself for tough financial times. Capital is increasingly hard to come by unless you find yourself in a newly launched state like New York, perhaps. But once a state cannabis program is relatively mature, it’s only a matter of time before it’s a race to

trademark parody

Cannabis Branding: U.S. Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Parody Trademark Case

Cannabis brands are known for clever branding and advertising. In some instances, this gets cannabis companies in trouble. See Cannabis Trademark Litigation: Wrigley Wins. Sometimes cannabis companies try to hew the parody line when riffing on an existing trademark. See Reminder: The Parody Defense to Trademark Infringement is Tricky. As my cannabis litigation colleague, Jihee

cosmetics

Cosmetics and Cannabis

Cosmetics are something of a bright spot when it comes to federal cannabis regulation. Unfortunately, however, there is quite a bit of misunderstanding when it comes to the federal legal framework for cannabis cosmetics. Following up on question that was asked during a recent webinar, here are the basics of which cannabis brands should be

trademark infringement

Edible Arrangements v. Green Thumb Industries: Voluntary Dismissal, For Now

We regularly cover intellectual property disputes on the blog, and the Edible Arrangements v. Green Thumb Industries trademark infringement case is one we covered two years ago when filed. Since then, this case appears to have been moderately active, with the parties engaging in the usual discovery and related motion practice. However, things did take

Webinar Replay: Cannabis and Psychedelics Election Updates and Q&A

On Tuesday, November 15, 2022, Harris Bricken attorneys Vince Sliwoski (Portland) and Griffen Thorne (Los Angeles) hosted a free, hour-long webinar analyzing the election results. The panelists broke down a number of the state and local election outcomes and answered your questions about the impact of these new laws. For anyone who was not able

large licensing

California Large Licensing Gets Really Small

California law required the state Department of Cannabis Control to begin accepting large license applications on January 1, 2023. Earlier this year, DCC published proposed large licensing regulations (which I described here). As usually happens, on December 5, 2022, DCC dropped its second set of modifications to the proposed regulations. When DCC’s rules take effect,

doj

Update: DOJ and SAFE Banking Act

As we blogged about last week, the SAFE Banking Act is trying to claw its way back from the dead during this lame duck session of Congress. Interestingly, on December 2, Punchbowl News reported that the Department of Justice (DOJ) issued a memo outlining its “issues” with the SAFE Banking Act. Here’s the memo (“Memo”).