Category: Cannabis Law News

After the state’s vote on women’s rights and abortion last week here at CLR we really don’t see that something as dangerous as medical cannabis is actually going to make any progress in the state. Bama politics write, “Alabama Medical Marijuana Bill Could Die At The Hands of Rep. Paul Lee”

Ganjapreneur report. “Recently introduced legislation to legalize adult-use cannabis in Delaware contains much of the same language as the state’s failed attempt from last year — this time, however, the proposal lacks home-grow provisions, which may make it easier to accept for certain lawmakers.” We’d say there’s something fundamentally wrong if the only legislation that gets through forces you to buy into a system where the market is controlled by others.

By the same people who brought you the NCBA. We’ll be interested to see if this USA centric outfit will create something international. And, no, we suggest a few Canadian attorneys doth not an international organization make. We fear it’ll be like our favourite US international sports competition, “The World Series” which seems for the past century only to have featured US baseball teams.

Cannabis retailer Nectar is being sued for $4 million by a Aloha cannabis shop it agreed to purchase but allegedly neglected to pay for. Says the Portland Mercury

This seems to be the week that after all the excitement most are putting back any serious decisions to 2020.

A push to create a legal market for marijuana has stalled in a House committee and with the legislative session slated to end this week, House leadership and other lawmakers have signaled that the bill — for this year, at least — is dead. Reports the VT Digger

Thanks to the Oregon Cannabis Retailers Association for bringing this to our attention. It’s a big step but the next big question is who will be buying it and will new rules or legislation be needed at the other end to do so. For example ; can Oregon export to Canada to plug the supply gap ? We presume that’s a big ask until the UN move on their scheduling. And there is this …”Before it would allow exports to occur, the bill requires an indication from the federal government that interstate commercial cannabis transactions won’t be prosecuted under federal law.”

The Detroit Metro Times reports that so far, at least 386 communities, or about a quarter of all of Michigan’s cities, villages, and townships have adopted ordinances banning the businesses, according to data from the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs. And apparently that’s just the start. In NJ figures got up to 50% so we won’t be surprised to see more on the way.

We must say, here at CLR we were hopeful but not overly confident that New Jersey & New York’s race to a regulated cannabis market would happen in 2019. Now a New York Times reports and whisperings from Albany suggest that like New Jersey, New York will have to wait for the world’s largest cannabis market (by city) to be resuscitated by government

If you need an overview of what’s happening in Nevada this is the read..

Here’s the May summary , as always, care of the Oregon Retailers of Cannabis Association (ORCA) . We always find the summary very useful as the state like Washington & Colorado is a weather vane for the rest of the country in about 18 months time.

There seems to be a new one every week at the moment ! Attorney Blake M. Mensing is The Mensing Group LLC’s Founder and Chief Counsel,

“We’re diligently reviewing it. Sometimes we get proposals for these letters and we have a date to look it over.”

Introduction: Use of a mark in commerce must be lawful under federal law to be the basis for federal registration under the U.S. Trademark Act. See generally Trademark Manual of Examining Procedure (TMEP) §907. The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) refuses to register marks for goods and/or services that show a clear violation of federal law, regardless of the legality of the activities under state law. A determination of whether commerce involving cannabis and cannabis-related goods and services is lawful requires consultation of several different federal laws, including the Controlled Substances Act, 21 U.S.C. §§801 et seq., the Federal Food Drug and Cosmetic Act, 21 U.S.C. §§301 et seq., and the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018, Pub. L. 115-334 (the 2018 Farm Bill), which amends the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 (AMA). The USPTO issues this examination guide to clarify the procedure for examining marks for cannabis and cannabis-derived goods and for services involving cannabis and cannabis production following the 2018 Farm Bill.

Our nominations are open for this year’s election to the Cannabis Bar Association’s Board of Directors. We have six seats up for reelection this year, and we are always looking for the right people to help us move the Association forward. Are you that person? 

May 7, 2019 Liht Cannabis Corp has  announced that it has filed a counterclaim in the British Columbia Supreme Court against Veritas Pharma Inc. alleging, among other things, that the Company and Veritas entered into a loan agreement (the “Agreement”) for repayment of a loan.

“There will be a clear choice for New Zealanders in a referendum at the 2020 General Election. Cabinet has agreed there will be a simple Yes/No question on the basis of a draft piece of legislation.

Another slightly cringeworthy post from a official body using the word “cool” and the phrase “Harsh Your Mellow”. But the message is, don’t do it until there is federal legislation in play.