marijuana

 in a case that potentially could have catastrophic effect on the cannabis industry.  At issue is whether the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals will allow private parties to sue state-licensed cultivations and dispensaries under RICO  for what are, essentially, nuisance issues.   Safe Streets, a Washington, D.C.-based anti-drug and anti-crime organization, filed the lawsuit and…

According to a report from the Marijuana Policy Project, the state-legal medical and adult use marijuana industry in Colorado had a $2.4bn economic impact on the Colorado economy in 2015.  Most importantly, the marijuana industry is credited with funding approximately 18,000 direct and ancillary full-time jobs in 2015.  While this only represents a small percentage of Colorado’s overall…

While I am sure we are all fed up with the current presidential election cycle, the upcoming vote in California to approve recreational marijuana has the potential to be a watershed moment for the national marijuana industry and warrants discussion.  In addition to California, Massachusetts and Maine both have legalization initiatives on the ballot next…

Jeff Tyler put together a great segment for yesterday’s Marketplace podcast concerning the growing size (and sophistication) of the marijuana industry. This is one of many recent stories from larger media outlets that, like the industry itself, is moving away from the novelty of marijuana and treating it like any other business segment. You can…

On August 12, 2016, the DEA published a policy in the federal register (81 Fed. Reg. 53846) designed to increase the number of entities registered under the CSA to grow marijuana to supply legitimate researchers in the United States.  The DEA has concluded that the best way to satisfy the current researcher demand for…

A favorable ruling from the Ninth Circuit in United States v. McIntosh is a reassuring win for the medical marijuana industry.  This federal case concluded that § 542 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act prohibits DOJ from spending money on actions that prevent medical marijuana states giving practical effect to their state laws that authorize…

On June 10, 2016, Governor Hickenlooper signed bill 16-040 which removes the Colorado two year residency requirement to obtain a marijuana business owner license, ultimately easing the burden for prospective out-of-state investors to become owners. The Colorado General Assembly’s intent in creating this bill was to provide marijuana businesses with the economic capabilities to grow…

BIS Research has published the North American Cannabis Market – Analysis and Forecast Through 2015-2025 estimating “the cannabis derivative market value to grow over $20.7 billion by 2020 at an estimated CAGR of 29.80% from 2014 to 2020.”

So what does this mean?

There is an old adage that it wasn’t the gold miners that…