Category: One-Hit Wonders

Weisheit said the most interesting aspect of the bill is the placement of social equity as its cornerstone.  

“This idea of making up for past injustices, making up for a heavy emphasis on small-scale marijuana arrests makes it very different,” he said. “It is also an interesting experiment. One of the great things about the United States is that each state has its own system for dealing with this issue and it makes for a giant experiment. You can see how different things work in different states.” 

Husch Blackwell write, “With the legalization of industrial hemp, many are eager to jump into the booming market for cannabidiol (CBD) and hemp-infused products. However, for manufacturers and retailers of ingestible CBD products in particular, it is prudent to look before jumping headfirst onto the “green wave.””

A surprise victor in the 2018 election, Kansas Governor Laura Kelly recently discussed her healthcare plans for her second year in office during an interview with 13 News. The cannabis industry should be modestly encouraged by what she had to say.

Here’s a few things to think about when a distro (or other licensee) hasn’t paid up.

Smith was a commercial real estate developer and landlord who leased her properties to marijuana growers. Those growers allegedly paid her more than three times the standard rent and produced tens of thousands of weed plants. On December 13, 2017, Smith’s weed-growing warehouses became public knowledge after police raided her home and discovered the plants.

We previously explored the applicability of trade secret protection to cannabis-related inventions. Here, we provide an overview of patent trends in the cannabis industry and how cannabusinesses can use patents to protect their technological, agricultural, genetic, or other innovations. In short, cannabis-related inventions may be patentable and cannabusinesses should work with counsel to identify which innovations may benefit from patent protection.

Keller & Heckman write for National Law Jnl…….

To kick off 2020, we thought it would make sense to provide an update on what’s been going on in Illinois over the last few weeks (there’s been a lot) and is continuing to keep us extremely busy.

Recently, the OLCC decided to officially ban CBD-infused alcoholic beverages, including beer.  This should come as no surprise to anyone following the beer industry.  Beer (and other alcoholic beverage producers) are regulated both at the state and federal level.  The federal entity responsible for overseeing the manufacture, labeling, and product safety in the beer industry is the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (the “TTB”).  Any brewery that desires to produce and sell beers must get a state alcohol license and a TTB permit.

In 2016, Pennsylvania enacted its “Medical Marijuana Act” (MMA), which permits individuals suffering from certain conditions to use marijuana for medicinal use. Several provisions in the MMA impact employers. For instance, the MMA makes it unlawful for an employer to “discharge, threaten, refuse to hire or otherwise discriminate or retaliate against an employee regarding an employee’s compensation, terms, conditions, location or privileges solely on the basis of such employee’s status as an individual who is certified to use medical marijuana.” In other words, taking adverse action against an employee based solely on the individual’s status as a medical marijuana cardholder would likely be considered discrimination under the MMA.

“The emergence of the hemp crop in U.S. markets has been slowed by a confusing and inconsistent regulatory environment at both the state and federal levels.”

The continued efforts of federal, state, and local governments to legalize cannabis, both in medical and recreational uses, leaves many potential impacts, including environmental law and regulatory issues in the manufacturing, processing, and distribution of cannabis products.

Health Europa interviews Katie Vickery and Katrina Anderson of law firm Osborne Clarke to discuss the implications of the landmark EU novel foods decision.

They write, “Here’s a look back at 2019 and a projection of what’s to come in 2020 Cannabis Law. “

Earlier this month, two federal courts—one in the Southern District of New York, another in the Western District of Washington—analyzed the issue of whether a federal court has jurisdiction to hear what would otherwise be routine breach of contract cases involving cannabis. Even though the cannabis-based businesses were legal at the state level in both cases, both courts came to the conclusion that the federal Controlled Substances Act (“CSA”) likely divested them of jurisdiction to hear the claims.

The EU General Court has rejected a trade mark application which featured the word ‘Cannabis’ together with images of cannabis leaves as it was contrary to public policy.

As you might have heard, the Ontario government is moving to an open market for retail cannabis stores. Starting January 6th, 2020, the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) will begin accepting operator licence applications from prospective retailers on a first-come first-serve basis. In addition to modifying the application process, the provincial government announced several other changes to the system, including:

According to the latest version of the EU Novel Food Catalogue, EU regulators consider that CBD-containing foods and dietary supplements are classified as novel foods. The Novel Foods Regulation (EU) 2015/2283 defines as “novel” any food which has not been used for “human consumption” to a significant degree within the EU before May 1997. As a result, CBD-containing foods require an authorisation to be legally placed on the EU market according to Article 6 (2) of the Novel Foods Regulation.

South Africa has various laws and regulations to control drug use. These include the Prevention of and Treatment for Substance Abuse Act 17 of 2008, the Drugs and Drug Trafficking Act 140 of 1992 (“the Drugs Act”), Criminal Procedure Act 51 of 1971 and the National Drug Master Plan 2006–2011, all of which prohibit the use of cannabis, be it for recreational or medicinal purposes.

As previously reported, the Tenth Circuit created a buzz when it found that cannabis companies need to pay overtime under the FLSA even though marijuana is illegal under Federal law.