Cannabis and Hemp Industry Trembles After FDA Cracks the Whip May 9, 2019 Steven Schain Hemp Policy & Legal 0 Comments With the FDA "locked and loaded," and billions of annual sales and "deal flow capital" hanging in the balance, the cannabis and hemp industries are questioning whether their products can be manufactured, sold and marketed without vending adulterated or misbranded… Read More→
How Risk Management Can Make Marijuana-Related Businesses Bulletproof March 26, 2019 Steven Schain Policy & Legal 0 Comments By Steve Schain Envision managing the risk of a volatile, staggeringly lucrative, 100-percent federally legal enterprise? Toss in ridiculously inconsistent federal, state and local regulations, insanely evolving technologies and efficiencies and an industry-wide disinclination to ever “play by the rules.”… Read More→
How Hemp Became Insanely Lucrative January 23, 2019 Steven Schain Hemp Policy & Legal, Policy & Legal 0 Comments Derived from identical plants, vastly easier to cultivate, and profoundly more profitable, industrial hemp always lacked legalized marijuana's sizzle. Derived from identical plants, vastly easier to cultivate, and profoundly more profitable, industrial hemp always lacked legalized marijuana’s sizzle. That all… Read More→
Preparing for Marijuana Industry Lawsuit Tidal Wave: Limiting Exposure (Part 2) September 26, 2018 Steven Schain Policy & Legal 0 Comments By Steve Schain With Corona brewer and Robert Mondavi wine producer Constellation Brands Inc. investing $3.88 billion in grower Canopy Growth Corp. and the Wall Street Journal estimating 2018 U.S. legal marijuana sales at $10.2 billion, the writing's on the… Read More→
Preparing for Marijuana Industry Lawsuit Tidal Wave: The Claims (Part I) July 16, 2018 Steven Schain Policy & Legal 1 Comment Editor's note: This is the first in a two-part series. “The international market for cannabis is projected to hit $31.4 billion by 2021. Currently,… By Steven Schain “The international market for cannabis is projected to hit $31.4 billion by 2021.… Read More→
Industrial Hemp: Legalized Marijuana’s More Lucrative Sibling June 8, 2018 Steven Schain Hemp Business Executive, Hemp Industry News 1 Comment Derived from the identical plants, much easier to cultivate, and profoundly more profitable, industrial hemp lacks legalized marijuana's glamour and intrigue. Derived from the identical plants, much easier to cultivate, and profoundly more profitable, industrial hemp lacks legalized marijuana’s glamour… Read More→
Trump Administration Bars SBA Loans to Cannabis Industry Support Businesses May 12, 2018 Steven Schain Policy & Legal 0 Comments In a policy notice effective April 3, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) updated its standard operating procedures (SOP) to prohibit providing loans to both marijuana- and hemp- related businesses and businesses deriving any gross revenue from sales to marijuana… Read More→
New Jersey and Adult-Use Marijuana—Perfect Together? March 28, 2018 Steven Schain New Jersey 0 Comments By Steven Schain How gung-ho is New Jersey's proposed adult-use marijuana program? Beyond generating tens of millions of annual tax revenue, New Jersey's adult-use marijuana program will decimate neighboring states' medical marijuana programs. How gung-ho is New Jersey’s proposed adult-use… Read More→
Cannabis Banking Issues: All Cash and No Flash February 5, 2018 Steven Schain Banking, Finance & Real Estate 0 Comments Marijuana related businesses face staggering safety, security and operational issues. Ever accidentally find $7.2 billion of cash in your back pocket? The cannabis industry did in 2017, after virtually no bank would accept legalized marijuana sales deposits. Due to difficulty… Read More→
Jeff Sessions Waives Sword of Damocles January 4, 2018 Steven Schain Policy & Legal 1 Comment By Steve Schain With Jeff Sessions threatening to singlehandedly crush $7.2 billion legalized marijuana industry spanning 30 states, generating millions in taxes and providing 10 of thousands of jobs, much confusion abounds. While unclear if merely a "knee jerk reaction"… Read More→
Lessons Learned From the First Phase of Pennsylvania’s Marijuana Program September 2, 2017 Steven Schain Compliance and Regulations, Pennsylvania 1 Comment With the dust settling and fuzzy math shrieks abating, Pennsylvania's medical marijuana program's first phase has drawn to a close. Or has it? Denying 408 applications and demanding its 12 grower/processor and 27 dispensary licensees construct statutorily compliant facilities within… Read More→
Marijuana Banking Takes Massive Leap Forward July 14, 2017 Steven Schain Compliance and Regulations, Policy & Legal 1 Comment Last month witnessed a marijuana banking explosion. Spanning 29 states and generating $7.2 billion in 2016, the United States' legalized marijuana industry's greatest obstacle—banking—was significantly reduced by the Department of the Treasury's (Treasury) Financial Crimes Enforcement Network's (FinCEN) June 6,… Read More→
What’s a Marijuana-Related Business Actually Worth? June 6, 2017 Steven Schain Banking, Finance & Real Estate, Policy & Legal 2 Comments Ever try valuing a business that is 100 percent illegal? Specifically, one shrouded in irrational exuberance, lacking audited financial records and topping the U.S. attorney general's hit list? Because "plant touching" marijuana related businesses (MRBs) have only been operating between… Read More→
Will SAFE banking act solve marijuana businesses’ banking issues? May 10, 2017 Steven Schain Banking, Finance & Real Estate, Policy & Legal 0 Comments Due to difficulty in obtaining financial services and because marijuana is a "cash only" business, marijuana-related businesses (MRBs) face staggering safety, security and operational issues. Help is on the way for this $7.2 billion per year industry via the Secure… Read More→
Canna Business 101: Underpowered and Oversupplied March 29, 2017 Steven Schain News & Insights 0 Comments By Steven M. Schain They're legalized marijuana's "dirty little secrets;" grid-crashing energy demands and glut-producing price drops. Permitting only energy-intensive, indoor growing facilities, neither Pennsylvania's Medical Marijuana Act, 35 P.S. Sections 10231.101-10231.2110 and regulations promulgated under (Pennsylvania marijuana law), nor… Read More→