drinks with addition of hemp (cannabis)

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know that “THC beverages” derived from hemp have exploded across America (at least in states where they are allowed by law). Time and again, due to the legal ambiguities and limitations posed by the 2018 Farm Bill, the THC beverage industry has advocated for regulation at both the state and federal levels. While certain states are eager to regulate this segment of the cannabis industry (see Minnesota, for example), others are not, and Congress has yet to take meaningful action on regulation.

Indoor marijuana plant under grow light

Like many others, we were caught up in filing a slew of Minnesota adult use cannabis applications for our clients by March 14 (which, if you were paying attention, that deadline was extended to March 15 by midnight because of a crash with the Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) website). Every time a licensing window opens in a state with a new adult use cannabis program, there are lessons to be learned for clients, attorneys, and regulators, alike.

Close-up of a basketball scoring through hoop during a game in a brightly lit indoor arena with blurred audience in the background

Selection Sunday marked the start of the NCAA Division I basketball tournaments this week and this year “March Madness” comes with a lessened degree of “Reefer Madness”. Since the 2024 March Madness season, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) has made a clear departure from its former position on cannabis. Last June the NCAA voted to remove cannabis from the banned drug class for NCAA championships and postseason football.[1] At the same time the growing popularity of low-does THC beverages and an increase in state legalization provide fans more of an opportunity to include cannabis in their experience.

Cannabis Industry And Investments Exploding In Profits Concept

Cannabis companies of all sizes have likely come across the issue of having to pursue badly behaved accounts receivable. What was once a time of prosperity has now turned into a business climate of pessimism and regret where the extension of terms and promises to pay have been more than abused by retailers and distributors, alike. What should cannabis companies do when their initial reach outs for payment on the sale of cannabis goods or on the backs of their distribution and sales agreements go unanswered? This post is dedicated to those steps necessary for cannabis companies to try to make good on their bad deals and collection efforts.

In the past couple of weeks, I have been contacted by a few major news outlets about the legality of “THC beverages”. While it sounds like you can only find these products in a state-licensed cannabis dispensary, reporters are calling me about hemp-derived THC beverages that are cropping up for sale online and in major liquor stores across the country. Hemp-derived THC beverages are alcohol-free/non-alcoholic (“AF/NA”) drinks that are infused with delta-9 THC derived from hemp, usually along with other intoxicating cannabinoids, so that these beverages produce psychoactive effects without legally being dubbed “marijuana.”

How?

Cannabis Legalization Hearing with Gavel and Scales of Justice in Courtroom Setting

2024 was a primarily lean and flat year for the U.S. cannabis industry. The state-legal cannabis industry has been volatile from its inception, and 2024 represented a year of winnowing with many cannabis businesses failing. 2025 has some light on the horizon, though, with the prospect of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (“DEA”) rescheduling of cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III. Until that occurs though, you can expect that cannabis in 2025 will be just as rocky as in 2024. Rocky doesn’t mean unsuccessful though. There are still opportunities across the board for investors and business operators, from state-by-state expansion to purchasing cannabis assets for pennies on the dollar in some cases.

Based on a recent article in the Green Market Report (and corresponding public filings), “$1.83 billion of . . . debt is set to come due by 2026” for a number of publicly traded multi-state cannabis operators (“MSO”s). While this public cannabis company debt is not a pretty sight, it might be the tip of…

Flag of Minnesota in Marijuana leaf shape. The concept of legalization Cannabis in Minnesota.

The Minnesota Office of Cannabis Management (“OCM”) has begun issuing final denials to the overwhelming majority of previously qualified social equity applicants (“SEA”s) ahead of its first statewide cannabis lottery on December 2 for 280 available “preapproval” cannabis licenses.

America’s Dairyland does not currently have any form of either medical or adult-use cannabis. The state has tried and failed at least a couple of times on convening medical cannabis legislation (see here on the latest attempt earlier this year). At the same time, Wisconsin is surrounded by three states that have both medical and adult-use cannabis programs (Minnesota, Illinois, and Michigan), with Canada to the north, which legalized cannabis in 2018.