California hemp farmer attorney

February 16, 2019

California Hemp Businesses Cautioned Interstate Deliveries Still

California hemp businesses cheered when the Agricultural Improvement Act of 2018 (“2018 Farm Bill”) approved federal expansion of legalized hemp and hemp-derived products – including CBD (cannabidiol). But when mapping supply chains that cross state borders, Los Angeles hemp business lawyers urge caution. interstate hemp sale

This may seem a bit confusing, given that section 10114(b) of the 2018 Farm Bill expressly states that no state or Indian Tribe has the authority to bar transportation or shipment of hemp or hemp-derived products across boarders, so long as the products meet the criteria of section 10113.

Straightforward, right?

Why Interstate Hemp Shipping Requires Caution Continue reading

February 11, 2019

California Cannabis Companies Lament Cash-Heavy Practices With Tax Season in Full Swing

By Cannabis Law Group

With tax season in full swing, the deadline approaching April 15th, California cannabis companies and growers are hauling in piles of cash to government offices to ensure their taxes are paid. However, neither those firms or government employees are keen on dealing with the archaic process of hand-counting dollars. Yet as our California cannabis business attorneys can explain, these tax woes are indicative of the long-standing and much bigger problem: Marijuana businesses can’t access banking. California cannabis company lawyers

Despite the fact that now 10 states plus the District of Columbia have marijuana legal for recreational purposes (1 in 4 Americans lives in a state where recreational use is legal), the federal Controlled Substances Act that still designates marijuana as a Schedule I narcotic means banks are reticent to get involved. Doing so could risk the U.S. Department of Justice coming after them for money laundering. Recently, The Modesto Bee reported the U.S. House of Representatives intends to hold hearings on bills that, if passed, could allow marijuana companies easier access to banking services – some six years after states started legalizing the plant for recreational use. It’s not the first time the issue has been raised, but it had always stalled in the past with Republicans being the Congressional majority – even when, as recently as 2017, the House bill had 95 bipartisan co-sponsors and a sister measure in the Senate had 20.

Lawmakers from Colorado and Washington are sponsoring a new marijuana banking bill that cannabis lawyers in Los Angeles know could help these companies – and government workers – avoid the risk of carrying around large cash stashes that may make them vulnerable to criminal targeting. As it now stands, the California Tax and Fee Administration already has to expend substantial resources to carefully plan for cannabis company tax payment drop-offs. In Humbolt County, where a large number of marijuana growers operate, the tax collector’s office has invested in numerous cash-counting machines, which so far have helped to processed some $10.3 million in marijuana tax revenue. Statewide, officials collected nearly $230 million in tax revenue from the marijuana industry in the first nine months of last year. Little less than half of that was reportedly submitted via cash payment. Continue reading

January 21, 2019

CBD-Only Shops Cropping Up in California, Even in Cities Where Cannabis is Banned

By Cannabis Law Group

Standalone CBD shops – those selling oils or other products made solely from cannabidiol (a chemical compound found in the cannabis plant that does not contain the psychoactive elements of THC) – are not expansive in California, but they have gained footing in some cities that have otherwise banned full marijuana dispensaries. They are also proving popular options in states where the drug itself may not yet be legal, particularly in light of the recent passage of the federal Farm Bill, which included provisions that legalized hemp, from which CBD oil can be obtained. L.A. CBD business attorney

Los Angeles CBD shop attorneys understand that while these little stores are outnumbered by the full-service cannabis dispensaries in the city hundreds-to-one, these store owners say they were drawn to the business primarily for the health benefits and variety of products (salves, tinctures, creams, edibles, soft gels, tinctures and more), but also for the reduced legal risk and ease in securing insurance and funding. One in L.A., for instance, sells only hemp-made CBD oil expressly for this purpose Shops that sell only CBD aren’t required to have the pricey licensing, as is required by legal cannabis dispensaries in California.

Such stores have also opened in Missouri, Texas, Kansas, Arkansas, North Carolina, Minnesota, Louisiana, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi and Ohio. What the Farm Bill, signed in December by the president, did was remove hemp from the list of controlled substances, allowing states to freely allow permanent cultivation programs, and farmers can be eligible for crop insurance and grants. Continue reading

December 9, 2018

California Marijuana Attorneys Expect Hemp Farming to Grow Across U.S.

By Cannabis Law Group

With Congress having reached an accord on the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018, which includes a provision to lift the federal ban on cultivation of industrial hemp, the proliferation of hemp farming in California and across the country is expected to grow exponentially. California hemp farming attorneys know that up to this point, the U.S. has been the only industrialized nation wherein industrialized hemp isn’t already an established crop. The provisions of the act amend the Controlled Substances Act of 1970 to indicate industrial hemp plants containing no more than 0.3 percent THC won’t be classified any longer as a schedule I narcotic. The measure gives states, rather than the federal government, authority regulate commercial hemp production and sales. California hemp farmer attorney

It’s a measure that could potentially be a cash cow for California farmers, as well as those across the U.S.

Hemp is defined in California Health and Safety Code Section 11018.5 as the fiber or oilseed crop limited to types of the cannabis plant with no more than three-tenths of THC. It’s production is overseen by the California Industrial Hemp Program, with Division 24 of the California Food and Agricultural Code providing for the cultivation of industrial hemp by registered growers as well as established agricultural research sites. The reason this federal measure is so important is that up until that law goes into effect, hemp is still considered a Schedule I narcotic per the CSA, which California hemp farming attorneys know means unless specifically exempted there, any hemp-related activity is still technically subject to federal prosecution, no matter what the state law says. Continue reading