Ensuring Entrepreneurs and Businesses Stay Informed of Developments in the Burgeoning Cannabis Industry
As a wave of marijuana legalization continues to sweep the country, employers (especially those with multi-state operations) must grapple with its impact on their operations and workforce.
Read MoreThings move quickly in the cannabis industry, especially in Virginia apparently. In February, the Virginia General Assembly passed legislation legalizing marijuana for adult use. As we wrote about here, the legalization date was set for January 1, 2024. Governor Ralph Northam (D), however, quickly proposed amendments to fast-track possession and allow limited home grow beginning this summer on July 1, 2021.
Read MoreLast week, the Texas State House of Representatives passed House Bill 1535 to expand permissive medical use of low-THC cannabis by patients with a medical condition approved by the Health and Human Services Commission. The bill would broaden the State’s medicinal cannabis program, or the Compassionate Use Program.
Read MoreWe all have it – the fear of missing out on good things happening around us or to people close to us. Legislators do too. Seeing states to their west (Illinois), north (Michigan), and east (New York, New Jersey, and Virginia) moving forward with adult use cannabis programs, Ohio state representatives Terrance Upchurch and Casey Weinstein are planning to begin work on an adult use cannabis bill next month according to a recent article in the Columbus Jewish News.
Read MoreIn a 5-2 ruling the Florida Supreme Court, in an advisory opinion, struck the proposed amendment to the Florida Constitution that would allow Florida voters to decide whether to legalize the adult use of Marijuana in the upcoming 2022 election. The Court’s reason? Because the amendment’s summary was “affirmatively misleading”. The Court, in the majority opinion, reasoned the amendment’s summary would trick Florida voters into believing that the recreational use of marijuana in Florida would be free of any repercussions, criminal or otherwise because the summary made no reference to federal law.
Read MoreSince 2018, there have been millions of dollars raised in cannabis-focused special purchase acquisition companies, or “SPACs”. A SPAC is effectively a “blank check” company with no operating history or assets. A SPAC is formed for the purposes of raising capital in an initial public offering (IPO) and using that capital to acquire an existing business and take such business public in what is referred to as “de-SPAC” merger transaction.
Read MoreLast month New York became the 16th state to legalize cannabis use for adults 21 and older under the State’s Marihuana Regulation and Taxation Act (MRTA). In addition to legalizing recreational cannabis, the MRTA expands the State’s current medical cannabis program.
Read MoreIn a rare instance of legislative efficiency, New Mexico passed legislation on Monday that legalizes recreational marijuana and expunges criminal records for certain marijuana-related convictions. New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed two pieces of legislation a mere two weeks after state legislators passed the bills in a special session, which Lujan Grisham called specifically to address legalization.
Read MoreIn 2014, the Florida Legislature authorized the medical use of low-THC cannabis, the Charlotte’s Web strain, and directed the Florida Department of Health to authorize five “dispensing organizations” to provide patients with the drug.
Read MoreKentucky is one of the nation’s top-producing hemp states, which is one of several reasons Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) has been a strong Republican force for cannabis reform.
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