In black-and-white surveillance footage, three people walk toward the oceanfront home of a millionaire tech executive. One carries a duffel bag. Another has a rifle. Shortly after the footage was captured at 2:47 a.m. on Oct. 1, authorities say, Tushar Atre was kidnapped from the house overlooking the Pacific Ocean. The 50-year-old man was later […]
California
Top 6 Growing Pains in California’s Cannabis Marketplace
By Hilary Bricken, Co-Founder, Harris Bricken Every state that’s legalized cannabis for adults 21-and-up has faced that moment or even series of moments that threatened to really derail or seriously stymie market development. California is at that crossroads and has been almost from the outset of the first issuances of cannabis licenses back in January […]
These 2 States Are Sabotaging Their Respective Marijuana Industries
These billion-dollar markets are making it impossible for their cannabis industries to thrive. At this time last year, the cannabis industry looked as if it would be practically unstoppable. Canada had just become the first industrialized country in the world to legalize recreational marijuana, and Wall Street was throwing out huge estimates on future industry […]
California cannabis group wants tighter vaping-safety rules
LOS ANGELES (AP) — An alliance of major legal marijuana businesses in California urged the state Monday to adopt tougher safety rules for ingredients and devices used in vaping and get tougher with illegal shops, amid an outbreak of a mysterious illness apparently linked to vaping. The recommendations from the industry group — Legal Cannabis […]
WATCH: California Gov. Newsom announces crackdown on vaping and cannabis oils
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California will spend $20 million on a public awareness campaign about the dangers of vaping nicotine and cannabis products and step up efforts to halt the sale of illicit products amid a rise in vaping-related illnesses. Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom announced the actions Monday as part of an executive order. Many […]
Nearly 3,000 Illegal Marijuana Businesses Found in California Audit, Dwarfing Legal Trade
California’s black market for cannabis is at least three times the size of its regulated weed industry, according to an audit made public Wednesday, the latest indication of the state’s continued struggle to tame a cannabis economy that has long operated in legal limbo. The audit, conducted by the United Cannabis Business Assn., found approximately […]
Cannabis restaurants are coming to California, with ‘budtenders’ and ‘flower’ service
WEST HOLLYWOOD — Like any good chef about to open a restaurant, Andrea Drummer wants to get her pairings just right. But her lamb chops with plantain-mango salsa won’t be matched with wine or beer. Instead, a “budtender” — some in the industry call them ganjiers, as in ganja sommeliers — will help guests at […]
The Biggest Pitfalls of California Cannabis Leases in 2019
By Hilary Bricken, Founder at Harris Bricken We’ve written many times about how commercial leases to cannabis tenants are their own beasts. Generic leases don’t ever the job done. And, in California, as bad as some landlords want to rely solely on AIR and CAR forms, we generally caution landlords to have a customized lease […]
What Can California Expect After 5 Years of Legal Marijuana?
As a reporter in Denver, I’ve heard endless jokes about Denver being a different kind of Mile High City and gotten accustomed to pointing curious visitors to dispensaries. The lessons of Colorado’s ups and downs with regulated marijuana have plenty to teach California as it tries to wrap its arms around the unintended consequences of […]
Cannabis Home Delivery Tech Platform Accused of Conspiring with California Retailers to Commit Credit Card Laundering and Fraud
On June 4, 2019, Eaze Technologies Inc. (Eaze) was sued in San Francisco County Superior Court by its competitor Herban Industries CA LLC (Herban), alleging a conspiracy between Eaze and numerous California cannabis dispensaries to commit payment and credit card laundering, wire fraud and bank fraud. Eaze is a market leader in the direct-to-consumer cannabis […]
Oakland decriminalizes ‘magic mushrooms’ and other natural psychedelics
Oakland’s city council unanimously passed a resolution Tuesday that decriminalizes the use of entheogenic plants, a category that includes flora such as “magic mushrooms,” cactuses, and iboga that can induce a psychedelic experience. Oakland is the second city in the country, after Denver, to decriminalize these substances. However, magic mushrooms still remain illegal under federal […]
Plan to create special cannabis-friendly banks moves forward in California
Shut out of the traditional banking system by federal laws, the country’s largest legal marijuana market — in California — could benefit if the state approves a measure creating a special class of banks to handle pot money. The state Senate voted 35 to 1 on Tuesday to pass a bill that would allow people […]
What You Should Know Before Leasing Property For Cannabis and Hemp Use
When the City of Huntington Beach imposed a fine on a landlord in excess of $150,000 for allowing a cannabis dispensary to operate out of his property, the landlord was surprised to learn that while cannabis has been legalized by California, each city has the right to regulate, restrict and prohibit commercial cannabis operations within […]
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 […]
Why 2019 Could Be Marijuana’s Biggest Year Yet
On November 7, the day after Democrats seized control of the House with what would become a 40-seat swing, President Trump fired his Attorney General, Jeff Sessions. That day, at his home in California, Smoke Wallin’s phone blew up with congratulatory calls from friends and associates celebrating the political demise of the nation’s top law […]
The 2018 Farm Bill – What it Means for Hemp Farmers’ Tax Bill
CPA Covers The Income Tax Implications for Hemp Farms after the new 2018 Farm Bill The Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (the 2018 Farm Bill) has officially been signed into law. One of the major components of this legislation of industrial hemp. This blog post will mainly focus on what the tax implications of this legalization and […]
Fresh Competition Brewing in Cannabis Beverages
Cannabis beverages have been on the receiving end of a fair bit of press during the past year. In August, beverage conglomerate Constellation Brands dropped $4 billion for 38 percent of Canopy Growth, a big Canadian cannabis cultivator. Even Coca-Cola is reportedly getting in on the ganja gulping game, although for now they are considering […]
Munchies of Choice Vary Between States’ Edibles Consumers
We smoke, vape and slather our weed. We affix patches infused with THC to our arms. And more and more of us, too, eat our reefer. So far during 2018, edibles sales in major states garnered 15 percent of market share among all cannabis sales, behind flower and concentrates according to cannabis research firm BDS […]
