We’ve anticipated this for a while, but a recent lawsuit indicates that certain marijuana company mislabeling antics are getting called out, regarding false advertising. One recent lawsuit heralds a potential new wave of litigation. The lawsuit The plaintiffs are two California consumers who sued a California marijuana company, DreamFields Brands, Inc. and Med for America
Cannabis Recession on the Horizon A cannabis recession may be coming and no cannabis business is immune. Prices are rising, operations are expensive to run, over regulation is rampant, local control is stifling, and you can’t even take many business deductions with the IRS because of IRC 280E. While things like interstate commerce agreements are
It’s no secret that California cannabis is suffering for a variety of reasons, not least of which is the stranglehold on access caused by local control. Local control is never going away in cannabis. It’s one of the linchpins that gets voters to approve cannabis ballot measures (NIMBYs in particular love local control even though
Recently, numerous clients have come to us about issues with cannabis payment plans and the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration (“CDTFA“). Recall, there was a time in California (not that long ago) where certain cannabis companies threatened to just not pay their taxes because they believed the tax rate was too high. In
California’s Department of Cannabis Control (DCC) is the state’s primary cannabis regulatory authority. DCC’s predecessor agencies often gave several days’ advance notice before an inspection. Since its formation, DCC has taken a vastly different – and more aggressive – approach to cannabis inspections. Our California cannabis team is now seeing drop-in, no notice DCC inspections
Proposition 65 cannabis regulations are no joke, and they continue to change. For better or worse, the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986 (a/k/a Prop. 65) has long plagued California businesses. Cannabis businesses are no exception (see here and here). Prop. 65 requires businesses to provide “a clear and reasonable warning before they cause
Last year, California passed into law AB-45, which paved the way for a regulated CBD market in the state. However, California flip-flopped on inhalable CBD products. Earlier CBD legislation would have allowed them, but then drafts of AB-45 prohibited them. Finally, we landed on an interesting compromise that made basically everyone unhappy. Today I’ll unpack
L.A. County commercial cannabis is finally coming in 2023. We covered the breaking news about L.A. County commercial cannabis regulations here. This is a huge deal, because L.A. County is the biggest county in the U.S. with over 9 million residents. L.A. County plans to allow the following businesses in in its borders in 2023:
I get asked a lot of questions about what California cannabis licensees can and cannot do under the Medicinal and Adult-Use Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act (“MAUCRSA”). California is actually business friendly once operations get going with a license– despite its many issues with the cannabis industry. For example, vertical integration is allowed. There’s no
The Los Angeles Social Equity Verification period came to an end at 4pm on Monday, July 25th. Recall that verification is required to enter into the Social Equity Retail Lottery this Winter. The verification period will be followed by a 90-day review period. Then, the Department of Cannabis Regulation (DCR) will notify qualified applicants of
