Photo of Steve Levine

Steve Levine

Steve is head of the firm’s Food Systems industry unit, Steve leads more than 45 professionals from numerous practice areas focused on the various food and agriculture industries. He excels in bringing creative, cost-effective solutions to the various challenges that our clients face.

Since 2009, Steve’s major focus has been on the burgeoning cannabis industry, where he guides clients through the tangle of shifting regulations governing the sale and use of cannabis in both the marijuana and industrial hemp sectors across the nation.

California has had laws on its books since 1996 allowing marijuana use for medical reasons, however, it has failed to adopt any regulations for the state and local licensing of marijuana cultivations and dispensaries.  After seeing states like Colorado and Washington reap millions in taxes, California has finally developed new regulations.  Today, California law makers

The 10th Circuit court ruled on August 21, 2015, that neither Chapter 7 nor 13 is available to a marijuana business owner.  The court stated that because of “the federally illegal marijuana based income stream, the debtors cannot fund a plan without breaking the law, and are therefore ineligible for relief under Chapter 13.”

We are all aware that a state-legal marijuana business is illegal under federal law and cannabis businesses deal with this dichotomy between state and federal law on a daily basis. Unfortunately, the fact that a cannabis business is federally illegal does not alleviate the obligation to pay federal income tax because the tax code does