Mastercard sent cease and desist letters to payment processors and banks last week. These letters demanded certain financial service providers to stop allowing marijuana transactions on MasterCard debit cards.
What does this mean?
This is clearly just another body blow to a struggling industry. Obviously cannabis operators will likely deal with more cash but
Creating further confusion and uncertainty in the hemp derived cannabidiol (CBD) markets, the FDA has determined that the existing regulatory frameworks for food and supplements are not appropriate for CBD. The FDA cited various safety concerns as the impetuous in making this determination.
The United States’ retail cannabis industry continues exploding, and it doesn’t show any signs of slowing down. These numbers are guaranteed to change after this Tuesday’s election, but as of October 2022, 37 states have legalized some form of medical cannabis, and 19 have legalized the substance for recreational use. Now, only 3 states remain with no cannabis access laws on the books. Retail cannabis sales in the U.S. are projected to exceed $33 billion by the end of 2022. As the industry continues to boom, retail landlords have increased opportunities to diversify their retail spaces by leasing to cannabis tenants. However, with these new opportunities come unique challenges and important considerations landlords should address as they prepare to lease to tenants in this new sector of the market.
Continue Reading So You Want to Rent To A Cannabis Tenant? Nine Considerations for Retail Landlords
In January of 2022, a worker in a Massachusetts cannabis cultivation facility died because of “the hazards of ground cannabis dust,” according to a report issued by the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA).
Continue Reading OSHA Investigates Cannabis Cultivation Facilities for Respiratory Hazards
Husch Blackwell’s Labor & Employment team issued a legal alert containing guidelines for employers as more states legalize marijuana. Employers should review the state laws in the jurisdictions in which they operate, understand their rights, and consider adopting the practices outlined in the update by Timothy Hilton and Jenna Brofsky.
Husch Blackwell’s Steve Levine and Meghan Brennan outline the history of legalized recreational marijuana in Colorado and the major step the state is taking to ensure public health and safety in the marijuana industry while allowing for normalized investment and access to U.S. markets. Read more via Marijuana Venture.
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
In our previous post, we touched on the fact that state-legal medical and recreational marijuana businesses (including indirect marijuana businesses) could not receive federal financial assistance due to marijuana’s continued Schedule I status under the Controlled Substances Act (“CSA”). While state-legal medical and recreational marijuana businesses have been adversely affected due to government imposed
Steve Levine, leader of Husch Blackwell’s national cannabis practice, will be in Fairview Heights, IL on August 29, 2019 to speak at the International Council of Shopping Centers’ (ICSC) Downstate Illinois P3 Luncheon. He will moderate a roundtable discussion covering regional industry developments concerning cannabis.
To register and learn more about the program,
According to data by Quest Diagnostics, marijuana use in the workforce is on the rise. Usage increased 10% last year to 2.3% of the U.S. workforce according to an analysis of 10 million urine, saliva and hairs samples. In a post on Husch Blackwell’s Safety Law Matters blog, Donna Pryor explains the safety hazards involved