Blog

• Jan 23

  What the Extreme Drop in Wholesale Prices Means for the Cannabis Industry

  By Nickolas Brait, Attorney Specializing in Corporate Law

  The severe drop in wholesale cannabis prices in many states over the past year can be traced to a few key factors: Regulatory missteps, high taxes for consumers, and competition from still-thriving illicit markets are contributing to the industry’s current woes. Additionally, in states that were early legalization adopters like Colorado, ...
• Jan 11

  Addressing Shareholder Disputes in the Cannabis Industry

  Cantafio & Song Staff

  As the legal cannabis industry suffers through a period of distress brought on by global economic woes, along with punitive taxation structures and an oversaturation of products, and plummeting prices, there has naturally been an uptick in internal cannabis business disputes. Incidents of owners suing other owners, shareholders making claims of ...
• Jan 06

  Navigating the Legal Landscape in a Distressed Cannabis Industry

  MJ Business Attorneys

  It’s an especially challenging time for cannabis businesses. Although legal cannabis markets exist at some level in the majority of states in the country today, they fight to survive amidst a web of restrictive and confusing regulations that make it difficult for businesses to operate in the black. Cannabis entrepreneurs and investors need to ...
• Dec 30

  5 Things to Watch in the Cannabis Industry in 2023

  Nickolas Brait

  As 2022 draws to a close, we are looking ahead to try and anticipate what 2023 has in store for the cannabis industry. Missouri & Maryland Voters in five states were asked to consider legalizing adult-use cannabis and two states, Missouri and Maryland, voted to approve implementing adult-use cannabis programs. These two states are home to ...
• Nov 22

  LIVING WITH INTERNAL REVENUE CODE SECTION 280E

  William C. Hitchcock, JD, LLM, EA

  During the past several years, the marijuana industry has faced many regulatory challenges, but none greater than that imposed upon them by the impact of Internal Revenue Code Section 280E. This provision of the Internal Revenue Code is one of several "disallowance" provisions found in the same code section. In pertinent part, IRC Section ...
• Sep 19

  Publicly Traded Canadian Cannabis Companies and the US Risk

  Charles Feldmann

  Canadian publicly traded cannabis companies investing into a US federally illegal enterprise. Not smart as a foreigner. What are the risks? More than half of U.S. states have legalized some form of medical cannabis. Eleven states and counting have enacted laws authorizing recreational adult-use. Federal appropriations bills have cut funding for ...
• Aug 27

  AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION CALLS ON CONGRESS - HOW MUCH CLOUT DOES THE ABA CARRY FOR CANNABIS REFORM?

  Charles Feldmann

  The American Bar Association (“ABA”)’s Criminal Justice Section has issued a report to the House of Delegates urging Congress to enact legislation to “exempt from the Controlled Substances Act any production, distribution, possession, or use of marijuana carried out in compliance with state laws,” to remove marijuana ...
• Aug 27

  AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION CALLS ON CONGRESS - HOW MUCH CLOUT DOES THE ABA CARRY FOR CANNABIS REFORM?

  Charles Feldmann

  The American Bar Association (“ABA”)’s Criminal Justice Section has issued a report to the House of Delegates urging Congress to enact legislation to “exempt from the Controlled Substances Act any production, distribution, possession, or use of marijuana carried out in compliance with state laws,” to remove marijuana ...
• Jul 29

  CBD is on a Roll, but the FDA is Hitting the Brakes

  Charles Feldmann

  As the U.S. market for CBD continues to skyrocket and companies competing in the cannabis space become more developed, they are being held back by the slow federal regulatory response at the Food and Drug Administration. On Monday, July 22, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration sent a letter to Curaleaf Holdings CEO Joseph Lusardi warning that the ...
• Jul 24

  Why Legal Marijuana Does Not End The Illegal Market

  Charles Feldmann

  Areas that have approved the sale of cannabis still deal with a “gray market” where legal and illegal marijuana markets coexist. It is a scenario that frustrates legal cannabis businesses and law enforcement alike. The surge in cannabis policy reform across the country and world may have caused many to anticipate a heavy blow to illegal ...
• Jul 18

  GUAM ENDS PRACTICE OF SEIZING CBD PRODUCTS ENTERING THE TERRITORY

  Charles Feldmann

  Amidst unclear rules and regulations surrounding CBD imports, Guam has ended its extrajudicial seizure of CBD products entering the country. Governor Lou Leon Guerrero announced on Friday that the products that have been intercepted and held by the territory’s Customs and Quarantine Agency will be released. The Agency began seizing ...
• May 31

  What's Next for Cannabis Banking?

  Charles Feldmann

  The California Legislature passed Senate Bill 51 last week, allowing California state-chartered banks and credit unions to provide banking services for the states’ cannabis businesses. This legislation covers 40.02 million California residents, but will it be a powerful enough move to help sway the Senate Banking Committee and Chairman ...
• Apr 29

  Unions Blowing Smoke with "Green Lung" Myth

  David Nagel and Jered Harris

  Updated February 10, 2020 What is ‘green lung’? Is cultivating marijuana to blame, or something else? In case you didn’t catch the Colorado Senate Finance Committee hearing on April 18 th regarding Publicly Traded Marijuana Companies HB19-1090, the term ‘green lung’ was introduced by Randy Tiffey, of the United Food ...
• Feb 27

  From Prison to Profit

  Charles Feldmann

  Read Charles' new publication in The Edition here.
• Feb 26

  Social use cannabis is now permanent in Denver, opening the door for new business.

  Charles Feldmann

  The Denver City Council voted 10-1 in favor of lifting the 2020 sunset date on social use cannabis businesses. While it is legal to buy and consume cannabis is Colorado, there are only two businesses in Denver that will allow you to vape or consume edibles on the premises. The reason? While Colorado voters previously passed a bill to allow social ...
• Feb 20

  On Global Cannabis: Why the 50 Stars Will Triumph Over a Single Maple Leaf

  Charles Feldmann

  Last October, I was in Canada speaking at a convention for international lawyers just days after the country’s bold move of legalizing marijuana. Mexico is also on the path to federal legalization, and more and more countries are joining in the global end to prohibition. I wondered: Has the United States lost its opportunity to be the top dog ...
• Dec 27

  On the 2018 Farm Act: Can I Start Growing Hemp?

  Charles Feldmann

  The long-anticipated 2018 Farm Bill finally made its way to the President’s desk and Trump made hemp fans ecstatic when he signed it into law on December 20. With a provision legalizing the cultivation and distribution of hemp on the federal level, many are left wondering what the Act means for cannabis industry operators. What It Means The ...
• Dec 11

  Will President Trump's U.S. Attorney General Nominee Barr Marijuana Legalization?

  Charles Feldmann

  President Trump recently announced his nominee for U.S. Attorney General, and it is unclear whether this nominee will be better or worse than the former Attorney General Jeff Sessions when it comes to the growing cannabis momentum toward federal legality. William Barr, who served as President George H.W. Bush’s attorney general, has not yet ...
• Sep 13

  Rise in Use of Rico

  Lilly Lentz, Law Clerk, David Nagel, Esq. and Jean Gonnell, Esq.

  In 1970, Congress passed the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act with the intention to combat organized crime. To be criminally or civilly liable under RICO, the liable person must take part in an enterprise that repeatedly engages in racketeering activity. Racketeering, in general, refers to the act of obtaining money ...
• Sep 06

  Marijuana Mayhem

  Feldmann Nagel Margulis

  Fighting Investment Fraud in the Marijuana Business Industry On September 5, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged Greenview Investment Partners L.P. with defrauding investors about returns in cannabis businesses after Greenview used misleading marketing materials to raise over $3 million from investors. The SEC has the powers, inter ...
• Aug 10

  Battle of the Bills

  Lisa Pittman

  Nation-wide legalization of hemp made its way through the Senate on June 13, 2018 when the Senate passed its version of the 2018 Farm Bill 86-11. The Senate version would in effect remove hemp from the Controlled Substances Act and authorize the growth of industrial hemp as an agricultural crop. Hemp, derivatives of hemp, and hemp extracts would no ...
• Jun 29

  FDA Approves CBD-Containing Drug - Will the DEA Finally Step Up?

  Charles Feldmann

  On Monday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Epidiolex, a drug containing Cannabidiol (CBD). CBD is one of the 80 active chemicals found in the marijuana plant, but unlike the more commonly known cannabinoid chemical Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), CBD does not produce a “high”. Justin Gover, chief executive officer of GW ...
• Jun 22

  TRUMP FULFILLING PROMISE

  Charles Feldmann

  Ending a year-and-half holdup on the selection of Colorado’s chief federal prosecutor, President Trump nominates Jason Dunn for Colorado US Attorney. Confirmation in U.S. Senate is a process that could take several months, but if confirmed, Dunn would oversee Colorado’s federal law enforcement agencies- from the Drug Enforcement Agency, ...
• Jun 20

  The Federal Government First Approves Gay Marriage, Then Sports Betting - Is It Finally Marijuana's Turn?

  Charles Feldmann

  While Attorney General Jeff Sessions lobbies Congress to reduce protections for medical marijuana, President Donald Trump is considering supporting a congressional effort to end the federal ban on marijuana. Last Thursday a bipartisan group of lawmakers lead by Colorado Senator Cory Gardner and Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren proposed the ...
• May 29

  The Supreme Court Puts a Halt to a Commandeering Congress

  Charles Feldmann

  On May 14, 2018, the Supreme Court chose to revive American Federalism when a seven-member majority of the Court held the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992 (PASPA) to be unconstitutional. The case, Murphy v. NCAA, et al., resulted in a ruling that struck down the provision of PASPA that prohibited the states from authorizing ...