What is U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions working on today that affects the cannabis industry, and who is he working on it with? If the most recent meeting held just two weeks ago is any indication, he’s digging in deeper in his quest to stop legalization, and calling in bigger policy and researcher guns to […]
Compliance and Regulations
Another Shot in the Arm for Legalization? New Laws Expanding Hemp Production Stepping Up the Discussion
What’s that? Hemp making a comeback? An illegal Substance 1 drug? Has the Drug Enforcement Administration gone soft on cannabis crime? No, that’s not likely. But when it comes to hemp, and medicinal CBD derived from hemp, all of which is treated as a Substance 1 drug by the DEA, recent legislature moves on hemp […]
Are We Getting Closer to a ‘Supreme’ Moment in the Cannabis Industry?
For years, thought leaders in the cannabis business have spoken about the possibility that the issue of cannabis prohibition would some day find its way into the Supreme Court. That day was just pushed a little closer to reality by one of the staunchest opponents of the cannabis industry – outgoing New Jersey Governor Chris […]
Questionable Licensing Issues Now Cropping Up In Ohio – ‘The Process Is Severely Broken’
As the regulatory process plays out across various states in the country – most importantly, in California where regulations and rules are coming right down to the wire (and maybe a little beyond) for the January 1, 2018 start of recreational – more and more issues are cropping up about the licensing process itself and […]
Look, But Don’t Touch: Big Box Stores And ‘Hemp CBD’
Media recently reported on Target’s short-lived effort at selling cannabis-based CBD products online. By the end of the day on which the reporting was made, the major retailer had already removed the product from its website. The Phoenix New Times quoted Target spokesperson Kate Decker as saying, “We started carrying Charlotte’s Web hemp extract items last week on Target.com. After […]
D.C. Policy Summit – Researchers Working on First-Ever Federally-Approved Medical Marijuana Study Fighting to Overcome Significant DEA, NIDA Obstacles
The 10th Annual DuPont Summit on Science, Technology and Environment Policy held in Washington, D.C. on December 1 is usually reserved for issues like equitable access to broadband technology or building sustainability in policy or cybersecurity risk management. This year, the summit also included a session on cannabis, “Medical Marijuana-Miracle or Madness?” – a title […]
Seven 2017 Cannabis Legalization Bills in Play and What That Means for the Industry
There is now a wide assortment of bills in Congress related to cannabis (and hemp) legalization and use. And while most of these bills have not seen movement in 2017, the sheer number of them introduced in 2017 are creating a perfect storm for attention from Congress and more active committee discussion in 2018. Here […]
Sessions Hints at Shift in Federal Marijuana Enforcement
Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Wednesday gave his strongest signal yet that the Justice Department’s more hands-off approach to marijuana enforcement may soon be changing. Sessions said that the department is looking “very hard right now” at a directive carried over from the Obama administration that effectively encourages federal prosecutors to generally defer to state […]
#MeToo And The Marijuana Industry: Ignore Harassment Policies At Your Own Peril
Over the past few weeks, story after story has come to light of sexual assault and sexual harassment in the entertainment industry. But though high-profile actors, directors, and producers are getting most of the press attention right now, the vast majority of workplace sexual harassment is experienced by low-wage hourly employees, often in small businesses. […]
Tiptoeing Tentatively Toward December 8th Showdown
One of the most anticipated presentations at the 2017 Marijuana Business Conference in Las Vegas earlier this month happened on the last day, Friday, November 17. This was a federal policy update, scheduled to feature Congressman Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), co-chair of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus, who would be discussing the Rohrabacher-Blumenauer amendment which was coming […]
