Articles Tagged with marijuana business attorney

Federal lawmakers – from both sides of the aisle and in both Congressional bodies – are pushing for a means of streamlining so-called “breakthrough therapies” that involve psychedelic drugs like MDMA and psilocybin for the purpose of promoting drug research and development. California cannabis lawyer

As longtime Los Angeles cannabis business attorneys, we help break down what legislators are after.

The new bill, introduced by Democrats and Republicans in both the House and Senate, is titled the, “Breakthrough Therapies Act.” It seeks to revise the U.S. Controlled Substances Act by establishing a procedure through which certain Schedule I narcotics can be considered “therapies” by the U.S. food & Drug Administration. Either that, or they could qualify for a waiver via the U.S. food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA). This waiver would allow the drugs to be transferred under a lower-schedule classification to research facilities and pharmaceutical laboratories.

The California marijuana delivery services lawsuit was originally scheduled for April, but was pushed back because of the novel coronavirus outbreak. It is now on track to be heard next month in the Fresno County Superior Court. The California Attorney General’s Office, filing a brief on behalf of the state’s Bureau of Cannabis Control, used the word “bizarre” to describe the effort to overturn state policy permitting marijuana deliveries regardless of local bans or rules. Orange County marijuana delivery attorney

As our Los Angeles marijuana business attorneys know, most of those in the industry are in favor of a statewide delivery option. However, 25 localities have formally objected to the policy. In response, the attorney general’s brief insisted that the BCC’s marijuana delivery policy aligns with state law. Continue reading

employment attorneyAs marijuana use becomes more widely accepted, California market research breakouts show online cannabis purchase demographics now include higher participation among women. And companies are quickly adapting their strategies to woo them.

One such company, Eaze, a San Francisco-based online cannabis shopfront and delivery service, noted an uptick of 81 percent more women purchasing marijuana related products from the company, between 2018 and 2019.

With this shift, women now make up 40 percent of the company’s total customer base. Eaze also shared, that in 2018, women also accounted for 38 percent of its first-time deliveries, and that that figure grew to 43 percent in 2019. Continue reading

Los Angeles marijuana lawyerLos 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.

Continue reading

Los Angeles marijuana lawyerNew product liability concerns have cropped up since regulators announced that California marijuana vape pens seized from illegal shops in Los Angeles were laced with hazardous additives. USA Today reports the ingredients included a substance that has been associated with a fatal, vape-related lung illness.

State officials with the California Bureau of Cannabis Control reportedly confiscated an estimated 10,000 vaping cartridges from unlicensed retailers of marijuana in a series of raids last month. The test results of those products is just now being completed, and authorities report 75 percent of those cartridges contained chemicals that were not disclosed to consumers or regulators. One of those was the vitamin E acetate, the agent used for thickening the compound that has been cited by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in an estimated 60 deaths and 2,600 illnesses in all 50 states.

If anything, our Los Angeles marijuana business lawyers see this as a warning to consumers to limit their purchase of marijuana products to licensed retailers. Black market marijuana products may be cheaper, but the potential cost to one’s health seems hardly worth the risk. As the CBCC pointed out in a recent release, retailers that have been licensed are required to submit their products to extensive laboratory testing to ensure they meet state labeling and consumer safety standards. Continue reading

cannabis brandingCounterfeits keen to take a piece of the Californian marijuana market share are increasingly targeting cannabis product brands. And the cannabis vaping boom that has swept the marijuana landscape was soon followed by a spate of knock offs. Particularly concerning to big brand vape pen manufacturers including Kingpen, Heavy Hitters and Connected Cannabis Co., is that it’s very hard to discern between real and counterfeit products.

Imitation vape pens are not only hurting brand profits, they’re also sending consumers to the hospital. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently noted “anyone who uses e-cigarette products should not buy these products off the street.” That’s because this year alone, several people have been hospitalized suffering from severe respiratory distress after using bootleg vape pens bought from illegal dispensaries, in California and across the Midwest.
Continue reading

In what is being considered a big win for all California cannabis companies after the federal government declined to proceed with civil forfeiture action initiated by the California Highway Patrol following a traffic stop of two marijuana delivery drivers, and the court ordered the money returned. cannabis company delivery

Attorneys for the cannabis businesses say these traffic stops targeting state-legal cannabis companies – and then calling in the feds to seize whatever goods and cash they found – were part of a systematic effort to undercut the burgeoning cannabis industry.

Although these companies are operating under the guidelines set forth by Prop. 64 the Adult Use of Marijuana Act, the cultivation, production, sale and use of marijuana remains illegal under the U.S. Controlled Substances Act. Federal and state justice agencies alike have, in the course of the failed War on Drugs, also availed themselves of a civil procedure known as civil forfeiture, designed to curb organized criminal activity (gangs, drug dealers, etc.).

State law enforcement agencies in California can no longer do this because marijuana is no longer flatly outlawed. So instead, it appears they were forwarding this means to undercut cannabis operations to the federal government. Continue reading

Federal law on marijuana prohibition has created an intolerable legal mess. (Tell us something we don’t know.) What’s notable is this sentiment was expressed by the U.S. Attorney General William Barr, who indicated he preferred the system laid out in a bipartisan House bill that would reform the law, allowing – finally – greater harmony between state and federal marijuana laws.Los Angeles cannabis lawyer

Barr’s remarks have cannabis business attorneys and others abuzz about whether this could be the true turning point that allows us to finally align federal and state marijuana laws. (It’s also worth noting they are in stark contrast to those of former U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Sessions, who was staunchly opposed to legal cannabis in any form or federal cooperation to facilitate it.

Speaking to the Senate Appropriations Committee, Barr said his preference is a legislative fix to the clash in statutes, one that ideally offers express rights to states to decide their own marijuana laws. At this point, all 33 states with legal medicinal marijuana and 10 with recreational marijuana in violation of federal statutes – namely the U.S. Controlled Substances Act. The classification of cannabis under that provision simply defies logic, but it’s not less a possible risk. Los Angeles cannabis dispensaries, delivery drivers, cultivators, manufacturers and labs ALL should have a cannabis attorney on retainer to help ensure compliance with state laws and minimize the risk of federal ire on issues ranging from taxes to trade. Continue reading

Using marijuana is legal in California, but apparently, if you’re up for top-level security clearance with the U.S. government, you may want to think twice. employment attorney

The Orange County Register reports The Pentagon is reviewing the federal security clearance of California tech billionaire Elon Musk following an on-air marijuana toke on a comedian’s podcast last fall. Musk reportedly refiled the SF-86 security form required of federal contractors and/or employees who seek security clearance. The form requires filers to answer truthfully whether they have used any illegal drugs at any point in the previous seven years. Musk reportedly had a higher-level secret clearance, thanks to his position spearheading a company (Space Exploration Technologies Corp. – SpaceX for short) that is permitted launch of military spy satellites.

The company’s day-to-day operations aren’t overseen by Musk, and the company won several national security space launch contracts in the wake of the podcast, but the Register reports it’s only with the refiling that Musk may have some issues.

Employers, Contractors Allowed to Set Ground Rules for Off-the-Clock Cannabis Use Continue reading

For a long time, marijuana’s illegal status under the U.S. Controlled Substances Act has barred study of the plant for most scholars. And while that law (still) has not changed, The Cannabis Law Firm in Los Angeles is aware of an increasing number of colleges adding so-called “marijuana majors” to the roster of available higher education options.marijuana lawyer

According to VOANews.com, a number of colleges have launched four-year degrees in in marijuana-related studies, such as medical plant chemistry, marijuana policy and law. Courses focus on the technical, horticultural, legal, social and political impacts of the plant in all areas of society.

As a law firm that has been focused on representing California marijuana businesses for nearly the last two decades, it’s been encouraging to see these areas of study morph from something of a joke to a field of studies that even Ivy League schools are taking very seriously, fully intent on preparing students for a blossoming career field. Continue reading

Contact Information