Photo of Meghan Brennan

Meghan Brennan

As a former investment accountant, Meghan knows how critically legal issues can impact a company’s bottom line. The emerging regulated cannabis industry has been a major focus for Meghan. She has been involved in all aspects of the industry, including working on rulemaking committees and drafting legislation.

Happy 4/20!

As the nation gets ready to celebrate the unofficial marijuana holiday, 4/20, we thought this was a great time to provide an update on the state of marijuana. 2021 has seen an increase in support for marijuana legalization at the state as well as federal level.  Coming off a year of uncertainty with the COVID-19 pandemic, marijuana legalization is poised to make substantial progress.  In many states, marijuana businesses were deemed essential businesses during the pandemic, highlighting the overall importance of these establishments.

As a historic election here in the United States unfolds beyond Election Day, one thing is certain – marijuana continues to win – and win decisively. While notable races in several states and counties were too close to call at the end of Election Night, marijuana state ballot initiatives were called early. All five states…

bright green marijuana plant

On Thursday April 23, 2020, Representatives Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) and Ed Perlmutter (D-CO) introduced the “Emergency Cannabis Small Business Health and Safety Act” in the House. Blumenauer and Perlmutter have been influential in protecting state-legal marijuana businesses from federal interference, most recently under the 2020 federal appropriations rider.

If passed, the Act would…

The below discussion is an analysis of the current legal environment related to the recent COVID-19 pandemic. This analysis highlights the ability of both medical and retail businesses to continue operating in light of several emergency orders from the State of Colorado and emergency rule changes from the Marijuana Enforcement Division (“MED”). This summary is not a legal opinion, but rather perspective and analysis on the current status of such emergency rules and orders. The content provided herein is subject to change as the laws and interpretation of such laws change.

STATE ANALYSIS

Below is a summary of the current status of Governor Polis’ Executive Orders, Colorado Department of Public Health’s (“CDPHE”) Public Health Orders (“PHO”), Emergency Rules, and MED Guidance (the “Releases”) updated as of March 30, 2020.  For ease of reference, at the end of this summary is a link to all applicable Releases.

Today, the United States Department of Agriculture (the “USDA”) released a draft interim final rule regarding the establishment of a domestic hemp production program. We expect the interim final rule to be published in the Federal Register in the next day or so, which will initiate the 60-day public comment period. This rule establishes rules to approve state and tribal plans to regulate the production of hemp pursuant to the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018, or the 2018 Farm Bill.

On Wednesday, the House of Representatives passed the Secure and Fair Enforcement Banking Act of 2019 (“SAFE Banking”) by a vote of 321-103. The final vote, which required 2/3 majority of the House, included 229 Democrats and 91 Republications.

Congressman Ed Perlmutter (D-CO), the bill’s sponsor who first introduced the legislation back in 2013, amended the bill ahead of Wednesday’s floor vote to broaden its GOP appeal.

On Friday, House leadership confirmed that the Secure and Fair Enforcement Banking Act of 2019 (the “SAFE Banking Act”) is scheduled to receive a floor vote this week. This announcement follows a strenuous legislative process to normalize banking for the cannabis industry.

The State of Colorado has taken a major step towards opening its marijuana industry to outside investment in what could be a transformative piece of legislation.

On Monday, March 4, bipartisan legislation unanimously passed the House Committee on Finance that would allow for an increase in marijuana investment in Colorado. The legislation seeks to address the need for investment dollars while maintaining strict regulations and oversight of the industry. The legislation removes the statutory requirement of background checks for owners of less than 10% of a marijuana business, thus opening the state’s marijuana market to outside investors as well allowing marijuana businesses to offer their employees equity in the company. In addition, the legislation outlines requirements for publicly traded companies to both invest in licensed marijuana businesses and to hold Colorado marijuana licenses. The legislation will next face a floor vote, where it is widely believed to have the support needed to pass, then it will go to the Senate and if passed, on to the state’s governor for final passage.