Why do commercial landlords still hesitate to rent to marijuana businesses? In addition to the remote possibility of a landlord getting arrested and prosecuted by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) for violating the Federal Controlled Substances Act, landlords face the very real threat of losing their property via a civil asset forfeiture. The federal
Be it the IRS, the Bureau of Reclamation, or the banks, the conflict between state and federal laws on marijuana can cause problems to those in the marijuana industry. You should now add filing for bankruptcy to the list. When businesses go (or are near to going) under, they typically file for bankruptcy in a
Oooh oooh that smell — can’t you smell that smell? Ok, we couldn’t resist trotting out the oft-repeated Lynyrd Skynyrd lyric. In all seriousness though, a recent Washtenaw County, Michigan court ruling discussing marijuana odor gives us an opportunity to remind canna businesses and home-growers alike to keep their smells to themselves. Neighbors had been
We know that most of you are no doubt already familiar with what Bill Clinton said on marijuana when he was running for President, but we thought now would be a good time to bring it up again since he will be appearing on Meet the Press tomorrow to discuss, among other things, marijuana. Anyway, for the
Washington State’s Liquor Control Board issued new “emergency” rules yesterday, mostly dealing with marijuana-infused food products, commonly called edibles. The rules were a reaction to recent stories of individuals who ingested too much cannabis from their edibles (see Maureen Dowd’s story here), and of children mistaking cannabis candy for the real thing. If you are making edibles for
For many marijuana business owners, return on investment is based more on its exit value than on its net profits. This is particularly true for minorityshareholders not involved in the business’s day to day operations; their goal is to build up the business as much as possible so as to maximize its sale value. Think
Though the Department of Justice has been sticking by its promise to stand down when it comes to legalized marijuana, its sister agencies have been dragging their feet. The newest cannabis foe to line up beside the IRS and the Department of Treasury? The Bureau of Reclamation. While some of you have probably never heard
We’ve been marijuana business lawyers for a long time now and in multiple states, and being on the front lines of this industry means that we have seen a lot of good and bad actors. In this post, we share the Top Ten Marijuana Industry Red Flags so that you know what to look for to
The Department of Treasury today issued guidance for financial institutions that want to do business with the marijuana industry. The primary force keeping banks away from the marijuana industry has always been regulations issued by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) dealing with money laundering. The Bank Secrecy Act that FinCEN enforces requires banks to investigate their customers and to neither negligently or knowingly do business with bad actors. State-legal marijuana businesses have always fallen into the category of bad actors for the banks, so they avoided potential fines by refusing to provide banking services to marijuana businesses. Today's regulations, however, clarify that banks can provide services to marijuana businesses without running afoul of federal regulations, so long as they abide by the following:
If you want to eventually own a national cannabis/marijuana brand, you should take steps to establish and protect your trademarks now. Since cannabis and cannabis paraphernalia remain federally controlled, the United States Patent and Trademark Office will not issue a federal trademark registration for products that fall into either category. However, it is possible to obtain protection for your trademarks in those states that have legalized the medical and/or recreational use of cannabis. Here is what you should do now:
