California cannabis attorney

March 13, 2020

California Allows Cannabis Donations to Qualified Medical Patients & Caregivers

medical marijuana attorney As of March 1, 2020, California has allowed qualified medical marijuana patients and primary caregivers to receive free cannabis, donated by retailers. This welcomed update arose after the passing of Senate Bill 34, which is also responsible for exempting donated cannabis items from cultivation, sales and use, and excise taxes.

The bill states licensed growers, distributors, manufacturers, retailers and micro-businesses may allocate any already available inventory of cannabis and related marijuana products, for donation. Products set aside for donation can only be given by licensed retailers either directly to a medical patient, or to their primary caregiver.

February 28, 2020

Privacy a Priority for California Pot Consumers

By Cannabis Law Group

Marijuana companies are actively working to update their websites, business practices and internal policies in preparation for new directives under the California Consumer Privacy Act. California cannabis compliance lawyers

As Los Angeles marijuana business attorneys can explain, many cannabis companies don’t even fall under the jurisdiction of the landmark act. Still, they are motivated not only by a desire to prove their desire to be in compliance just like any other company. Plus, it’s something most of their customers want.

Most California marijuana businesses are facing enough legal scrutiny as it is. Although the new law applies only to those corporations that generate at least $25 million a year in revenue and glean data on 50,000 or more households, devices or residents, some believe it’s better to make a good faith effort than to skate on the excuse that they aren’t technically beholden to it. It’s a potential marketing opportunity as well as a way to show regulators they are working to be responsible business partners. Continue reading

February 26, 2020

California Cannabis Industry Driving Warehouse, Retail & Land Sales

By Cannabis Law Group

Green begets green – at least insofar as the California cannabis industry is concerned. cannabis warehouse leasing

The growing legal marijuana market is driving demand for warehousing, retail and land space across the country. One analysis of some 600 commercial brokers last fall by the National Association of Realtors revealed that in states where marijuana was legalized prior to 2016, the demand for these properties was markedly higher than in those states where cannabis use remained against the law.

As our Los Angeles cannabis business attorneys have noted that real estate investors have been especially active in areas where marijuana and CBD trade is thriving. Many more investment firms have been scouring opportunities in states where legalization seems likely in the near future. Continue reading

February 24, 2020

California’s Proposed Pot Industry Changes Met with Skepticism

By Cannabis Law Group

Los Angeles cannabis business attorney The Californian pot industry has largely reacted with positive skepticism after Governor Gavin Newsom unveiled his new budget proposal, which includes significant updates for the cannabis industry. In essence, Newsom’s proposal seeks to merge three existing agencies regulating the state’s cannabis to establish a single, centralized Department of Cannabis Control, and to simplify and streamline the taxation of cannabis.

California voted to legalize cannabis use in adults aged 21 and older, three years ago now. And in that time, the legal marijuana industry has grown rapidly. Cannabis market research firm, BDS Analytics, predicts legal cannabis sales will exceed $3.1 billion this year alone, and forecasts sales will continue to grow to an estimated $7.2 billion by 2024.

Growth of this kind has come to fruition despite California’s complex legal structure, which incorporates in excess of twenty different cannabis license types, four varying regulatory agencies, and exorbitant taxes that industry insiders say are driving customers to the illicit market for cheaper alternatives. Continue reading

February 12, 2020

California Lawmakers Propose Cutting Pot Taxes to Give Regulated Industry a Boost

By Cannabis Law Group

marijuana business California lawmakers, in late January, breathed new life into a proposal that could cut the state’s taxes on marijuana for the short term, to help boost the struggling legal market.

Gov. Gavin Newsom has shown his support for the bill, as he now takes aim at updating California’s cannabis regulations.

Assembly Bill 1948, introduced by Assembly Members Rob Bonta, Ken Cooley, Reggie Jones-Sawyer, Tom Lackey, and co-authored by Assembly Member Mark Stone, seeks for three years to:

lower marijuana retail sales state tax from 15 percent to 11 percent; and
eliminate the cultivation tax altogether.

February 3, 2020

Vape Disease Cases in California All Linked to Underground Goods

By Cannabis Law Group

Los Angeles marijuana lawyer Los Angeles officials announced that cannabis vape cartridges seized from unlicensed storefronts late last month were tainted with potentially hazardous additives. These include an agent that is known to thicken substances, and is also blamed for causing the vaping lung illness sweeping the nation.

In December, California investigators also raided unregulated storefronts throughout Los Angeles and confiscated illegal vape products. According to state testing results, many of those products showed as far less potent than labeling suggested.

In some cases, the oil cartridges THC contents showed to be only a portion of that claimed and were diluted more than one-third by undisclosed but likely dangerous additives.

Los Angeles officials tested a sample comprising more than 10,000 randomly selected illegal vape pens confiscated in those raids. Results showed three in four vapes contained the thickening agent vitamin E acetate, which federal regulators blame for the majority of lung illnesses linked to the national vaping health crisis.

January 6, 2020

Should Voters Step In to Help Move California’s Legal Cannabis Industry Forward?

By Cannabis Law Group

After two years of licensed cannabis stores selling legalized marijuana across California, the industry has encountered numerous teething problems. Crippling regulation and licensing costs, rising local and state taxes, local city usage bans, and a strong illicit market that shows little sign of waning, have all proved to hinder industry growth. At this point, it is safe to say the Golden State’s legal marijuana industry is in need of a little prod, to help it move forward.

Calling for a Return to the Ballot
With lawmakers seemingly finding it difficult to pass any changes as quickly as the cannabis industry needs them, Cody Bass has floated another idea.
Continue reading

January 3, 2020

Cannabis Retailers Allegedly Owed Millions by Californian Payment Provider

By Cannabis Law Group

Californian payment provider, Linx Card, has fielded a spate of lawsuits from cannabis businesses in recent months, who claim the primary provider of debit merchant services to marijuana retail stores, owes them millions.

Linx offers customers a platform where they can purchase Linx gift cards, or pre-paid debit cards, that can then be used to make in-store cannabis product purchases using those cards. Terminals within select retail stores sell the Linx gift cards, as does the Linx website.

Court Filing Woes
Court filings made across the country allege that Linx owes at least four marijuana businesses money. Those sums include:

$40,092 to Universal Herbal Center and Pineapple Express (who operate marijuana stores in California);
$114,962 to Colorado retailer, Silver Stem Fine Cannabis;
$939,010 to Las Vegas superstore retailer, Planet 13; and
$1.5 million to Arizona and Nevada Reef Dispensaries.

In a statement, Linx CEO Patrick Hammond, acknowledged the company is working to resolve these issues and plans to ensure retailers are paid in full.

December 14, 2019

Opinions Split as California’s Lab-Tested Cannabis Product Numbers Rise

By Cannabis Law Group

cannabis chemist lawyer Monthly lab-testing numbers for California’s legal cannabis products show signs of bouncing back, after lulls midyear. Even in late November, indicators pointed to a cultivating season that will continue well into the year’s end.

News of this rise in legal cannabis product quantities moving through the state’s supply chain has been met with spliff, or rather split, industry opinions. That’s largely because California’s unsteady marijuana market is still trying to find its stride.

Some insiders see the rise as a positive sign, showing that California’s licensed marijuana operations are enjoying an uptick. Meanwhile, others see the latest statistics as further evidence of a black market that continues to outpace the regulated industry.
Continue reading

December 7, 2019

Is the Nation’s Vaping Crisis Hurting California’s Cannabis Market?

By Cannabis Law Group

medical marijuana The Californian cannabis industry watched with the nation, as 47 patients across 25 states lost their lives to possible vaping associated pulmonary illness this summer. And as the epidemic dragged on, news reports covered a notable dip in vape sales, understandably as consumers took a slight step back from vaping until safety could be assured.

When the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed there was a vaping crisis sweeping the nation, media reports surrounding the deaths believed to be linked to vaping also covered news of the crisis hurting cannabis vape sales. At the time, vaping was the cannabis industry’s fastest growing segment. It appeared that California bore the brunt of the fallout, and Marijuana Business Daily reported the state’s vaping shares for the recreational cannabis market dropped for four weeks straight, “from 30.5% the week of August 19 to 24.3% by the week of September 16.”

Since then, data has shown that vaping cannabis sales have stabilized, and even increased market share in a number of states. Tom Adams, BDS Analytics’ Managing Director of Industry Intelligence explains that’s because people enjoy vaping, they see it as a healthy substitute for smoking cigarettes and cannabis, and find vaping far more convenient and discrete than burning dried plant matter. So unless we see a total government ban imposed, a slowdown is unlikely.
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