WESTERN WATER IN-DEPTH: STATE CRAFTS WATER RIGHT AND NEW RULES UNIQUE TO MARIJUANA FARMS, BUT WILL GROWERS ACCUSTOMED TO THE SHADOWS COMPLY? For decades, cannabis has been grown in California – hidden away in forested groves or surreptitiously harvested under the glare of high-intensity indoor lamps in suburban tract homes. In the past 20 years, […]
California
$350,000 in cash? California marijuana taxes still make growers – and tax collectors – nervous
On tax days, it’s not hard to spot marijuana growers waiting to exhale in downtown Eureka. They haul cash in grocery bags and boxes, making their way to a state office where they can pay their taxes. One grower “holds his breath as he walks into the building,” said Terra Carver, executive director of the […]
25 cities suing California over marijuana policy that allows unrestricted delivery statewide
Because pot remains illegal on the federal level, it cannot be sent through the mail. But people can get it delivered to their doors in California. LOS ANGELES — California has entered a potentially landmark legal fight against some of its own cities over one of the most basic questions in the nation’s largest legal […]
Los Angeles Set to Reduce or Expunge 50,000 Marijuana Convictions
Nearly 50,000 people who have been convicted of marijuana-related offenses will have their convictions erased or reduced, according to a statement on Monday from the district attorney of Los Angeles County. In partnership with Code for America, a nonprofit tech organization, Los Angeles County will identify decades-old court cases that it would otherwise have been unable […]
Tribes at odds with Calif. officials over the right to sell marijuana
The legalization of recreational marijuana in California left Native Americans out in the cold. Proposition 64, which voters approved in 2016, lets local governments decide whether to allow cannabis dispensaries to operate within their jurisdictions. But it made no provisions for tribes. As far as the state is concerned, tribes can do whatever they want […]
SF district attorney to wipe out 9,000-plus pot cases going back to 1975
San Francisco District Attorney George Gascón announced Monday that his office will wipe out more than 9,000 marijuana-related convictions in an unprecedented step following California’s cannabis legalization more than two years ago. Gascón last year teamed up with Code for America — a nonprofit focused on using open-source technology to improve government — to find […]
Looking Beyond Tax and Banking Bills to Establish Sustainable Solutions for California’s Complex Regulatory Challenges
By Dr. John Oram Op-Ed More than a year after California became the sixth state to legalize adult-use marijuana, the legal cannabis industry has yet to live up to the high expectations envisioned by supporters of Proposition 64. The number of retail licenses issued is thousands less than state officials originally estimated and state revenue […]
The California Bureau of Cannabis Control’s Final Regulations Immigration Impact on Foreign “Owners”
By Griffen Thorne & Akshat Divatia, Attorneys at Harris Bricken On January 16, 2019, each of the three California cannabis agencies dropped a final set of regulations. In many senses, the Bureau of Cannabis Control’s (“BCC”) regulations were the most comprehensive and expansive (we summarized some of the highlights here, and summarized the highlights of […]
California’s retail marijuana industry is struggling. Will tax breaks and banks help?
Unfriendly banks, high taxes and black-market competitors are some of the obstacles that licensed cannabis companies say hold them back as they try to cultivate a new industry in California. Some California lawmakers want to give them a hand, and they’re considering a set of bills that would in ways great and small fine tune […]
Now you can get cannabis delivered to you anywhere in California, even in cities that ban pot
Until now, companies trying to deliver weed to doorsteps around the state – the companies trying to follow the letter of the law, anyway – have faced a daunting patchwork of local regulations. Buying cannabis is legal in California, but cities and counties can still choose to regulate or ban the trade as they please. […]
New Cannabis Regulations Approved by the Office of Administrative Law
PRESS RELEASE Approved Regulations Take Effect Immediately SACRAMENTO, January 16, 2019 — California’s three state cannabis licensing authorities today announced that the Office of Administrative Law (OAL) has officially approved state regulations for cannabis businesses across the supply chain from cultivation to retail. These new regulations take effect immediately. The previous emergency regulations, adopted by the […]
California collecting far less than expected in marijuana taxes
Deep in Gov. Gavin Newsom’s new budget is a figure that says a lot about California’s shaky legal marijuana market: The state is expecting a lot less cash from cannabis taxes. The Democrat’s proposed spending plan, released Thursday, projects the state will bank $355 million in marijuana excise taxes by the end of June. That’s […]
Now for the Hard Part: Getting Californians to Buy Legal Weed
A billion dollars of tax revenue, the taming of the black market, the convenience of retail cannabis stores throughout the state — these were some of the promises made by proponents of marijuana legalization in California. One year after the start of recreational sales, they are still just promises. California’s experiment in legalization is mired […]
Why 2018 was a Tough Year for the California Cannabis Industry
2018 has been a roller coaster for California cannabis businesses. The cannabis laws and regulations in California have made life difficult, to say the least, for anyone wishing to obtain licensure. This isn’t necessarily the fault of any single legislature, municipality, or agency, but instead was the result of a perfect storm of legal and […]
Will California’s Section 5032 Disrupt the Cannabis Market?
By Ian Stewart On December 7, 2018, California’s three cannabis licensing authorities submitted final versions of the state cannabis regulations scheduled to be approved by January 16, 2019. California’s Bureau of Cannabis Control (Bureau) submitted a final version of Section 5032 of the regulations that substantially limits commercial cannabis activity between licensed and unlicensed entities. […]
Will Hemp-Derived CBD Be Fully Legal with Passage of the 2018 Farm Bill? Not Quite…
By Ian Stewart, Wilson Elser Public interest in the potential health benefits of CBD (cannabidiol) is responsible for a whole new market segment of health and wellness foods and supplements that features CBD as an ingredient. CBD is one of more than 100 cannabinoids in the cannabis plant, but unlike THC (tetrahydrocannabinol), CBD is not […]
Marijuana delivery draws gig workers with steady pay, more zen customers
Jennifer Rodriguez works two jobs to afford living in the Bay Area. After dropping off her three children at school, she spends most mornings shuttling Uber passengers. Then the Hayward mother starts a shift delivering marijuana. Unlike her Uber work, where she’s considered an independent contractor and has to pay all of her own costs, […]
The Bureau of Cannabis Control (Bureau), LAPD and the Department of Consumer Affairs’ Division of Investigation-Cannabis Enforcement Unit Shut Down Un-Licensed Dispensary
PRESS RELEASE SACRAMENTO – The Bureau of Cannabis Control (Bureau) and the Department of Consumer Affairs’ Division of Investigation-Cannabis Enforcement Unit (DOI-CEU), in coordination with the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), today announced enforcement action on an unlicensed cannabis retailer operating within the city of Los Angeles. On Thursday, October 25, 2018, DOI-CEU served a search warrant […]
