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Video 1 KTLA Channel 5 News Story June 18, 2010: Lake Forest Medical Marijuana Dispensary Appealing Injunction Order Video 2 KTTV Channel 11 News Story June 4, 2010: Los Angeles Medical Marijuana Dispensary Challenges LA's Ordinance Video 3 Cannabis Law Group's Attorney Damian Nassiri Sues the City of Los Angeles To Block It's Ban on Medical Marijuana as Featured on PBS's So Cal Insider - Part 1

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Lawmakers in California are considering a measure that would prohibit the display of marijuana on state billboards along stretches of highway. billboard

As it now stands, there are a number of billboards that promote a variety of substances, from liquor to prescription medications – and yes, marijuana. But the marijuana industry is the only one being targeted by this effort.

According to the Sacramento Bee, Assembly Bill 64 would result in an amendment to the recently-passed Proposition 64, the state’s recreational marijuana bill, by implementing tighter restrictions for advertising of marijuana and related products. Proposition 64 allows anyone over the age of 21 to possess up to one ounce of marijuana and it also creates a framework for sales of recreational weed that will go into effect the first of 2018. The measure also prohibited advertisements of recreational marijuana along the interstate highways that cross the border into California. However, what it did not do was ban advertising of marijuana on any interstate or state highway. That’s what Assembly Bill 64 would do. Continue reading

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There are a lot of reasons to make California a vacation destination. Now, the newest it seems is recreational cannabis. airplane

On the West Coast, we now have California, Washington, Colorado, Oregon and Nevada that allow recreational marijuana. The only other places allow it are Alaska, Washington D.C., Massachusetts and Maine. For people who live in all the states in between, most are limited to recreational marijuana access, if they have it at all. It’s anticipated that legal marijuana is going to be a major driver of tourism to these states in the coming years.

This has resulted in a number of ancillary cannabis businesses, including travel agencies booking “tours” of various dispensaries and must-see sites. Travel research company MMGY Global reports that while overall travel to California didn’t surge much right after the election, it did spike 23 percent when looking at just Millennials. It also increased notably among households that earned $100,000 or more – presumably because they had more discretionary income to spontaneously make that trip. But others could be planning a trip for the coming months or years.  Continue reading

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Marijuana is legal in California, but lawmakers are looking to ban the so-called “country cruise.” Specifically, state legislators have proposed in Senate Bill 65 banning the act of smoking marijuana while operating a motor vehicle. driving

This might seem like common sense – or perhaps already covered under existing impaired driving laws – but legislators insist the law will close a gaping loophole left by Proposition 64, the ballot measure California voters approved in November that legalized marijuana for recreational use. Prop. 64 does ban the presence of an open container of marijuana in a vehicle, but it doesn’t say anything about using marijuana while driving.

The measure was proposed by two Democractic lawmakers, Assemblyman Evan Low and Senator Jerry Hill.  Continue reading

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Marijuana is now legal in 28 states as medicine and six states (including California) for recreational purposes. And yet, many workers are finding their employers unwilling to ease their previous rules on drug-free workplaces. It’s understandable that most employers don’t want their workers medicated or high on-the-job. However, some are still imposing arcane rules regarding off-the-clock use. It appears the athletes employed by the National Football League are no different. football

These individuals arguably have a lot more clout than most of us, but even they have been largely unsuccessful in their efforts to compel their employer to relax on their marijuana rules. Marijuana remains on the league’s banned substances list. Still, an increasing number of players are asking the league to change that.

Calls were again renewed with the recent arrest of Green Bay Packers cornerback Sam Shields for misdemeanor marijuana possession. The criminal complaint alleges investigators launched an inquiry into a suspicious package that was making its way through U.S. Mail. It was suspected the package may be related to drug activity. Authorities reportedly followed it to Shields’ address, where he opened the door holding what appeared to be a blunt. Investigators observed a strong smell of marijuana coming from the home. Shields allowed investigators inside, and reportedly showed them several other marijuana and related items in a cupboard, including a jar of the plant and pot-laced muffins and candies.  Continue reading

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There is no question that driving impaired or under the influence of any substance is unwise. Unquestionably, marijuana is known to contain compounds that can impede a person’s cognitive abilities and reflexes, which are imperative for driving safely. However, a new study reveals that the approval of medical marijuana is not met with an uptick in traffic fatalities, as many detractors for years insisted. driving

The study, published recently by the American Public Health Association, looked at at U.S. Traffic Fatalities from 1985 to 2014 in various states and compared their relationship to medical marijuana laws. Conducted by researchers at Colombia University, the University of California at Davis and Boston University, what they discovered was that traffic deaths fell in seven states where medical marijuana is legal and that, in general, states that had medical cannabis statutes tended to have reduced traffic fatality rates than states where the drug is strictly outlawed.

What’s more, researchers discovered that states with medical marijuana statutes had the impact of immediately lowering traffic deaths among younger cohorts. Specifically, those between the ages of 15 to 24 and 25 to 44 saw the most marked decreases during that time.Those between the ages of 25 to 44 saw gradual reductions every year thereafter. Continue reading

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Marijuana business in Colorado is seeing a major shift with the passage this month of a measure that halts sales of recreational marijuana at medical marijuana dispensaries. marijuanatray

There is widespread understanding by those operating medical dispensaries that with the law allowing recreational use in place, they are not going to be able to survive peddling medical pot alone. Now that recreational marijuana dispensaries can sell to anyone over the age of 21, there is little incentive for consumers – or dispensaries – to go through the additional bureaucracy that medicinal marijuana requires – except in case where patients are under the age of 21. That could mean those patients will have a tougher time finding specialized strains or compounds.

The new regulation also comes with a provision that allows consumers to purchase more of the plant and pay lower sales taxes on it. However, at least for the next few months, they may find they have fewer venues from which to buy. That’s because dispensaries will be actively making the shift from medicinal operation to recreational sales.  Continue reading

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Leaders in California and Massachusetts are asking the federal government to ease up on rules that keep banks from doing business with those in the marijuana industry.bank money

Specifically, California’s state Treasurer John Chiang formulated a group of 16 bankers, marijuana industry leaders and elected officials to define the problem as it relates to banking and work on hammering out some type of solution. Meanwhile, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) penned a correspondence with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, asking for rules and guidance for banks and dealing with cannabis businesses.

The majority of banks, financial institutions and credit unions won’t work with the cannabis industry – even those who work in businesses that are ancillary to the industry, such as product testers or product suppliers. Growers and distributors function almost entirely on cash-based models. Meanwhile, California’s first recreational marijuana businesses are slated to open sometime in 2018, per the recently-approved Proposition 64, which legalized marijuana use for and distribution to adults over the age of 21. The state now has one year to work out some kind of banking services model that is going to be workable in the legal framework. The big issue, of course, is the federal law that outlaws marijuana for any purpose. It doesn’t appear federal officials are likely to budge on this issue anytime soon, as the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has steadfastly refused to reclassify marijuana from its Schedule I status – maintaining it in the same danger class as heroin. Continue reading

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It’s being called the “green rush.” Amid a series of pro-marijuana reforms set in motion by the November election, investors are scrambling to buy up stock in a variety of cannabis companies, which are part of an industry expected to cross the $25 billion threshold by 2021. brief case

Of course, not everyone is going to win out big in this, but there will be firms who succeed. Those that do will not take for granted sound legal advice needed to navigate an uncertain statutory landscape. Yes, there are state laws that now allow for both medicinal and recreational pot, but there are tight regulatory frameworks within those. Beyond that, while the federal Justice Department backed off its crackdown on marijuana dispensaries as of 2013, the drug remains a Schedule I narcotic, and the new U.S. attorney general is no fan of marijuana reform.

Still, investors see opportunity, particularly when they may not personally be directly involved in the actual cultivation, processing and distribution of the drug. Landlords and property owners may still be at risk, but they also stand to make substantial profits.  Continue reading

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Even before California legalized the cultivation and sale of marijuana for recreational users, this state was already one of the country’s biggest producers of the drug in the country. Recently, The Orange County Register delved into just how big of a producer – and the results are somewhat astonishing, even to those of us familiar with the industry. field

California is known around the world to have some of the best soil for farming all types of agriculture. We grow some of the greatest grapes, winter vegetables, garlic, olives and almonds. But the biggest item produced? Cannabis.

The Register reports that not only is marijuana the most valuable crop in the nation’s No. 1 agricultural producer state, but we grow so much of it here that it blows the other goods out of the water. Reporters looked at figures from the California Department of Food and Agriculture for crops and production estimates. What they found was that estimated marijuana crop production was more than the other five leading agricultural commodities – combined.  Continue reading

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There was a time not very long ago that property owners were extremely wary of renting space to any type of marijuana business, for fear of running afoul of the federal government. Specifically, 18 U.S. Code Section 981 details the government’s authority to assert civil asset forfeiture. The law was drafted to allow the government to seize the massive assets acquired by drug kingpins. However, it was rarely used until marijuana became legal as medicine in California. At that point, federal prosecutors began going after property owners who allowed their site to be used by any marijuana operation – even if it complied with state law – because marijuana was (and still is) unlawful per federal statutes. warehouse

Today, it’s a much different legal landscape. Technically, prosecutors still have the authority to assert civil forfeiture, but the U.S. Justice Department under the previous presidential administration altered its policy in 2013, with a memo indicating that so long as operations were compliant with state laws, the federal government wouldn’t pursue them unless it had some special reason to do so (i.e., distribution of marijuana to minors, preventing sales revenue from being funneled to criminal enterprises and cartels and preventing dissemination of the drug to states where it isn’t legal).

This has motivated a growing number of real estate investors to dip their toes into the waters. The Portland Press-Herald in Maine recently reported real estate brokers are encountering increasing demand for industrial spaces that could be converted to indoor marijuana farms. News of this comes as Maine is on the verge of being yet another state to approve of recreational marijuana. California is in that same boat.  Continue reading

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