Yesterday, some big news dropped that the cannabis industry has anticipated since last summer. I take issue with some of the headlines, so here’s mine: “DEA Reportedly Agrees to Initiate Proposed Rulemaking to Reschedule Marijuana…”. Clearly, I’m a lawyer and not a reporter, but the “Reportedly” and “Initiate Proposed Rulemaking” are key considerations here at the Canna Law Blog. How did we get here? In October of 2022, President Biden requested that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) review marijuana’s placement on Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). HHS followed ..read more

Cannabis commercial lease agreements Signing a commercial lease can be an exciting step toward realizing operational goals in your Washington cannabis business. However, if a lease is not analyzed and completed correctly, the agreement can leave either the landlord or the tenant, or both, with additional headaches and liability. Understanding the nuances of the cannabis commercial agreements is crucial for both parties alike. Whether you are a small business owner looking to secure your first retail or business space, or a property investor seeking to maximize your returns, having a firm grasp ..read more

Arizona’s record-breaking cannabis market In the landscape of booming and busting cannabis markets, Arizona emerges as a standout success story. A naturally beautiful state that attracts a sizeable group of tourists every year, Arizona skyrocketed past $1 billion in total cannabis sales for 2023. Unlike its northern neighbor of Nevada, Arizona has exceeded $1 billion in sales for three consecutive years, with 4.9% increase from ‘22 to ‘23 to boot. (Nevada, conversely, suffered from a nearly $115 million shortfall from FY 2022 to 2023 despite several millions more tourists than Arizona.) Cannab ..read more

Former Minnesota Governor and ex-professional wrestler Jesse Ventura is the latest celebrity to start a cannabis brand. Ventura served as Governor of the Land of 10,000 Lakes from 1999 to 2003. One could say that no other Governor serving during the late ’90’s or early 2000’s had quite the extensive background in variously different forms of popular entertainment as Ventura, with the exception of a certain former bodybuilder from Austria and “Governor-nator” from California. Fun fact, both of those former Governors starred in the 1987 action blockbuster Predator. Celebrities and cannabis ventu ..read more

Last week, California’s Department of Cannabis Control (DCC) released illegal market enforcement data for quarter 1 of 2024. It’s become a new tradition of mine to compare this quarterly data and see whether the state is actually doing anything to fight the illegal market (for example, see my posts for Q4 2023, Q3 2023, and Q2 2023). What does California’s Q1 2024 data show? Below is a side-by-side comparison of the enforcement data published by the DCC from Q1 2024 as compared to Q4 2023: Q1 2024 Q4 2023 Search warrants served 18 24 Pounds of Cannabis Seized 31,866 13,393.65 Retail ..read more

Register Here On Wednesday, April 17, 2024 at 12:00 pacific time, Harris Sliwoski managing partner Vince Sliwoski (Portland), Harris Sliwoski partner Griffen Thorne (Los Angeles), and Andy Shelley of CannXperts will present a free webinar entitled “How to Buy or Sell a Cannabis Business.” Drawing on their extensive experience from representing businesses and entrepreneurs through numerous M&A transactions, including crucial state license transfers throughout the United States, our panelists will share insights and practical wisdom from their firsthand experiences in the legal cannabis indu ..read more

Cannabis investments are difficult enough when the investor is a U.S.-based person or entity. But things can get immensely more complicated when foreign investment is on the table. Today I want to highlight some of the top considerations for foreign investors and U.S. cannabis companies alike. 1. Legality could cause serious headaches To this day, cannabis remains federally illegal. State legality has zero effect on federal law. Even the possible rescheduling to schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) will not make cannabis federally legal. Things are clearly a mess. In our cannabi ..read more

The need for social equity in cannabis programs As adult-use cannabis legalization sweeps across the country and America confronts the toll of previous, draconian cannabis policies, one of the best attempts to right abject wrongs is social equity programs within state cannabis industries. Unfortunately though, social equity programs are easily exploited and “loopholed.” Licenses have even been discreetly purchased by multi-state operators (MSOs) in some cases, or other entities that should not qualify as social equity applicants. Regulators are getting wise. One such example is Missouri, where ..read more

Cannabis contracts are – in the simplest sense – binding agreements between two parties. But how you get to something being “binding” can be complicated. And in the cannabis industry, where things move a mile a second and people often overlook basic contract requirements, the results can be disastrous. Today I want to focus on a concept known as “authority” and explain why I think it is so critical for the cannabis industry. What is the deal with authority in cannabis contracts? When an individual who is (a) an adult, (b) not under duress, and (c) of sound mind enters into a contract, there is ..read more

Though the cannabis industry is one of America’s most lucrative new industries — with estimates that it will reach approximately $58 billion in sales by 2028 — the markets in several recreational states are suffering severe financial harm. In states like Oregon, the problems have gotten so out of hand that businesses are even pulling out of the state. And these problems are far from over. California is probably the best example of such a problematic state, as I wrote last week. Last year, reports from the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration showed that the California cannabis i ..read more