If you’re in house counsel at any company, you’re likely looking to cut down on the day to day, high volume minutia posed by a variety of commercial agreements and transactions that come your way time and again. Doubly so in the cannabis industry given the fact that you have bigger fish to fry with labor and employment issues, day to day operational issues, fundraising and finding more capital, and dealing with the precarious legal environment created by the current federal law conflict (even with possible rescheduling on the horizon). To alleviate some of that in house stress, general counsels should be considering instituting cannabis corporate playbooks (or alternative language libraries) to make the company’s contracting process more turnkey, predictable, and efficient while cutting down on risk. Continue Reading Cannabis Corporate Playbooks

In October 2022, President Biden asked the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Attorney General to review how marijuana is scheduled under federal law. In August 2023, the HHS marijuana recommendation went to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). In October 2023, HHS released a heavily redacted copy of its recommendation to DEA. And until last Friday, no one outside of Bloomberg News and choice government insiders had seen the totality of the HHS marijuana recommendation. However, thanks to a Freedom of Information Act legal battle by lawyer Matt Zorn, the public can now see all 252 pages of (and related to) HHS’s marijuana recommendation to DEA. Continue Reading HHS Marijuana Recommendation Now on Blast

I split my time between Los Angeles and Milwaukee these days (I’m eligible to practice law in Wisconsin), and I often find myself working from my firm’s Milwaukee office depending on the month. Wisconsin is an incredibly interesting state when it comes to marijuana in that it is surrounded by states that have both adult use and medical cannabis legal regimes while it has nothing. Wisconsin’s state government is mainly controlled by Republicans who are anti-cannabis legalization. However, they seem to be alright with the concept of Wisconsin medical marijuana. It will be limited though and if the Republicans’ proposal goes through as presented (we don’t have an actual bill yet), Wisconsin will have state-run dispensaries with state-employed pharmacists.Continue Reading Wisconsin Medical Marijuana…Maybe

After months of anticipation, the New York State Office of Cannabis Management began accepting applications for five (5) types of licenses this week: cultivator, processor, distributor, and microbusiness. This is generally how the process will work:Continue Reading The New York marijuana business application window has opened, but will be over in a ‘New York minute’

National law firm Husch Blackwell is pleased to announce that Hilary Bricken has joined the firm as a partner in the Los Angeles office and as a member of its Food Systems industry group.

Bricken is a highly regarded cannabis law attorney who joins Husch Blackwell’s nationally recognized Cannabis practice team. She has more than a decade of experience in guiding clients of all sizes in cannabis licensing; marijuana and industrial hemp regulatory compliance; mergers and acquisitions; corporate and transactional matters, including negotiating management services agreements, fee slotting agreements, cultivation supply agreements, and intellectual property licensing agreements; receiverships; dissolution and wind downs; and financing and debt restructuring.Continue Reading Husch Blackwell Expands Nationally Recognized Cannabis Team with Addition of Partner Hilary Bricken

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.

FDA has concluded that a new regulatory pathway for CBD is

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