L.A. marijuana lawyer

January 29, 2017

Marijuana Tourism May Become Increasingly Common in California

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

January 27, 2017

Players Ask NFL to Reconsider Rules on Marijuana

By Cannabis Law Group

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.

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

January 26, 2017

Study: Medical Marijuana Tied to Lower Traffic Fatalities

By Cannabis Law Group

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

January 24, 2017

Local Leaders Ask Feds to Ease Marijuana Banking Rules

By Cannabis Law Group

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

January 23, 2017

Investors Eye Marijuana Stocks

By Cannabis Law Group

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

January 21, 2017

Recreational Marijuana Interest Fueling Real Estate Deals

By Cannabis Law Group

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

January 20, 2017

Prohibiting Teen Access to Marijuana a Top Priority for Politicians, Pot Distributors

By Cannabis Law Group

Recreational marijuana is now legal in California. But that doesn’t mean it’s Ok for teens to use it for recreation, as there is evidence it can have negative health effects – and of course there is the risk of impaired driving. Although some marijuana advocates downplay these concerns as “Reefer Madness” ridiculousness, the reality is that if the marijuana industry is going to garner legitimacy, there needs to be a concerted effort to keep cannabis away from children who don’t have a medical reason to be taking it. teen

Part of the concern is that teens do not view marijuana as harmful as they once did. Research at the UC Davis Violence Prevention Research Program indicated that the harmfulness perception of marijuana among eighth-graders fell by 14 percent in Washington state since the drug was legalized. It fell by 16 percent among those in 10th grade. In states where marijuana has not (yet) been legalized, perceptions of the plant’s harmfulness fell at much lower rates, between 5 and 7 percent.

Still, there is competing evidence about whether this translates to more teens actually using the drug for fun. For example, the U.C. Davis study indicated marijuana use by Washington’s eighth-graders spiked 2 percent since legalization, while increasing 4 percent among 10th-graders. In non-legal states, marijuana use fell by about 1 percent. However, a study by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment indicated the percentage of high school students there who used marijuana was actually smaller than the national average – 21.2 percent in the previous 30 days (down a percentage point since before legalization) while the nationwide rate of teen marijuana use was a bit higher at 21.7 percent. The department concluded that “marijuana use (among teens) has not increased since legalization.” Continue reading

January 14, 2017

Marijuana Patient Struggles to Gain Child Custody

By Cannabis Law Group

Medical marijuana has been legal in California since 1996. One would think the social stigma, not to mention the legal entanglements, endured by medical marijuana patients by now would have lifted. But as a heartbreaking story out of Orange County reveals, this still isn’t so. father

The story, chronicled in The Orange County Register, details the ordeal of a new father fighting for custody of his infant son, currently in foster care, because the courts refused to grant him custody due to his status as a medical marijuana patient.

The 31-year-old reportedly did not find out about his son until the day a woman he’d dated nine moths earlier contacted him from a hospital bed to tell him she was giving birth. He drove to the hospital the following day and met his son. A social worker told him the baby’s mother would not be allowed to leave with the child. He immediately started to petition for custody of the boy. In order to do so, however, he had to take a drug test. Prior to undergoing the test, he revealed to the social worker that he used marijuana with a doctor’s prescription to treat for pain he suffered due to a car accident years earlier. The test results were inconclusive. However, his admission of his status as a medical marijuana patient was enough, the court held, to deny his request to bring his son home with him. Continue reading

January 10, 2017

Study: Marijuana Reduces In-Hospital Mortality Risk

By Cannabis Law Group

One of the primary arguments given by federal drug regulators about why it would be unwise to lower the Schedule I classification of marijuana is that the drug has not been well enough studied to know whether it has legitimate medical benefits. Of course, there are many people who use it as medicine who would beg to differ. Beyond that, it’s something of a Catch-22 because the Schedule I listing makes it next to impossible for scientists to get a hold of it, let alone conduct clinical trials. That means researchers must explore other ways of examining the drug’s risks and benefits. hospital hall

Recently, an analysis published in the journal Cancer Medicine revealed that a history of marijuana use among patients admitted to the hospital was correlated with lower rates of heart failure, cardiac disease and cancer deaths. This conclusion was based on analysis conducted by researchers at Colorado State University, the University of Northern Colorado and the University of Alabama, who looked at the health outcomes of nearly 4 million hospitalized patients.

Patients who tested positive for marijuana were more likely than those who didn’t have a history of using the drug to be admitted for a stroke. However, they had much lower odds of suffering from cardiac disease or heart failure. They had especially good survival rates when it came to various types of cancer, and their survival rates overall were better than non-users. Continue reading

January 4, 2017

Marijuana Industry Poised to Generate Many New Jobs

By Cannabis Law Group

With marijuana now legal in some capacity in more than half of all states, the industry is poised to see a job boom over the next few years. business

Even prior to the election, industry analysis conducted by ArcView group and GreenWave Advisors tallied that the industry was worth somewhere between $4.8 billion and $5.4 billion in 2015, with projections that it would hit $6.5 billion to $6.7 billion this year. Both groups say the industry will surpass $20 billion nationally by 2020, while others, such as Marijuana Business Daily, is opining growth could be up to $40 billion over the next five years. Those estimates are only going up since the results of the November election, when eight states – including California – voting to legalize the drug in some capacity. Here, recreational use and possession is now permitted, and regulations are being worked out to determine the guidelines for production and sales.

Already, some individuals who got in early enough – when the field was still quite new and very risky – have struck a veritable gold mine. One entrepreneur in Denver opened a dispensary there in 2009 called Medicine Man. Now, several of his family members are on board, running nine businesses that employ over 100 workers in total. Employees at his country make anywhere from a starting salary of $13-an-hour, all the way up to six-figure positions for working in critical management roles. Continue reading