The president-elect has reluctantly embraced decriminalizing marijuana, but he could struggle to change laws. President-elect Joe Biden built part of his political career on being known as a fighter in the “war on drugs,” supporting legislation as a senator that set harsh penalties for some drug offenses. But as president, Biden could potentially oversee broad […]
Federal
What Georgia’s Senate Results Mean for Marijuana Stocks
All eyes were on the Georgia special Senate run-off elections on Tuesday with the control of the U.S. Senate hanging in the balance. It looks like that control will shift from the GOP to the Democrats. Democratic Senate candidate Rev. Raphael Warnock has already been declared the victor in his race against incumbent Republican Sen. […]
FTC Announces Crackdown on Deceptively Marketed CBD Products
PRESS RELEASE Companies made unsupported claims that their oils, balms, gummies, coffee, and other goods could treat serious diseases such as cancer and diabetes The Federal Trade Commission today announced the first law enforcement crackdown on deceptive claims in the growing market for cannabidiol (CBD) products. The FTC is taking action against six sellers of […]
House votes to expand marijuana research.
The bill passed with strong bipartisan support. The House on Wednesday passed a bill that would make it easier for scientists to conduct marijuana research in states where the drug is legal. The bill passed on a voice vote with strong bipartisan support. It’s the second piece of marijuana legislation passed by the Democratic-controlled chamber […]
Get with the program. Legalize weed.
Decades ago, our country outlawed a plant. This plant, then as now, has never resulted in a single overdose death. Since the plant is an outlaw, you’ll be branded one if you’re unlucky enough to get arrested for casually consuming it. What a profoundly odd and destructive national fixation — one that seems more like […]
House votes to decriminalize marijuana as GOP resists national shift on pot
The House endorsed a landmark retreat in the nation’s decades-long war on drugs Friday, voting to remove marijuana from the federal schedule of controlled substances and provide for the regulation and taxation of legal cannabis sales. The vote was 228-to-164 and marked the first time either chamber of Congress has voted on the issue of […]
SEC’s Investment Rule Updates and Cannabis Fundraising
By Jonathan Bench, Attorney at Harris Bricken Recently the SEC updated its rules to simplify the patchwork of regulations to help companies in fundraising mode. This matters to cannabis companies of all types, especially those that want to utilize the available federal exemptions in their securities offerings. In the SEC’s own words, “These amendments will […]
Donald Trump, Drug Warrior: How the President Slowed Cannabis Progress
He might not have overtly gone after pot, but the current president set a tone — and appointed a slew of anti-pot crusaders to his cabinet When it comes to cannabis, it’s hard to say just what a Trump presidency has meant to the industry. It’s not as clear-cut as his record on, say, immigration, LGBTQ […]
Congress Takes Issue with the (Awful) DEA Hemp Rule
by Nathalie Bougenies, [email protected] Harris Bricken The hemp industry is not the only one that’s pushing back against the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)’s hemp Interim Final Rule (the “Rule”). If you read this blog, you’ll recall the hemp industry sued the DEA following the release of its Rule in August 2020. The Rule threatens the […]
Cannabis Conundrum: Demonstrating “Accepted Medical Use” in a Restricted Research Environment
By Delia Ann Deschaine and Megan Robertson U.S. cannabis businesses operate in an increasingly complex legal and regulatory environment. Many, if not most, of those complexities stem from marijuana’s classification in Schedule I of the federal Controlled Substances Act. That classification hinges on the determination that marijuana lacks a currently accepted medical use in treatment […]
