Cannabis: In Focus
Continue Reading Cannabis Legal Report – Week of October 17, 2022
A California state appeals court affirmed a bong maker’s win in a suit alleging it violated California’s Proposition 65 (Prop. 65) by failing to warn consumers that its products expose them to marijuana smoke that could cause cancer or reproductive harm.
Prop. 65 is a California initiative approved by voters in 1986 and enacted into law as the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act that same year. The law prohibits knowingly and intentionally causing exposure to substances, including cannabis smoke and delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), that are known to the state to cause cancer or reproductive harm, without first providing a clear and reasonable warning. California maintains a list of substances that trigger Prop. 65 warnings. To comply with Prop. 65, businesses must provide consumers with a compliant warning, unless they can ensure that their product does not expose consumers to a listed substance at levels that may cause cancer or reproductive harm.
Plaintiff-appellant Environmental Health Advocates, Inc. (EHA) filed a private enforcement action against Sream, Inc. (Sream) on November 12, 2020, alleging Sream violated Prop. 65 when Sream failed to provide a warning that their water pipe products—more commonly known as bongs—exposed consumers to marijuana smoke. EHA’s enforcement action sought “injunctive relief against Sream, from manufacturing, importing, selling, and/or distributing the products without a clear and reasonable warning.”
Continue Reading California State Appeals Court Affirms Bong Maker’s Win in Prop. 65 Suit
On February 2, 2022, Republican Governor Tate Reeves signed the Mississippi Medical Cannabis Act, which legalizes medical marijuana for the treatment of certain debilitating conditions. Those debilitating conditions include, among others, cancer, Parkinson’s disease, HIV/AIDs, sickle cell anemia, Alzheimer’s disease, post-traumatic stress disorder, and autism. The law became effective immediately, making Mississippi the 37th state
In many real estate transactions, title insurance companies fulfill a variety of roles, from providing title reports and issuing title policies to acting as the escrow agent for the closing, any holdbacks, and construction draws. However, when it comes to transactions involving cannabis companies and/or properties that will be used for cannabis-related purposes, title companies are significantly limited in the services they offer.
Continue Reading Cannabis, Real Estate & Title Companies
California was an early state to legalize marijuana for recreational use, but the state has been slower to regulate hemp-derived products such as cannabidiol (“CBD”).
Continue Reading California Bill Offers Insights into Future of CBD Regulation
As the dust continues to settle on New Jersey’s legalization and decriminalization of cannabis, employers should take note of the laws’ significant employment implications. While forthcoming regulations will better define the contours of the new requirements, below are the most pressing takeaways for New Jersey employers.
Continue Reading What New State Cannabis Legalization Means for New Jersey Employers
Perkins Coie is pleased to announce that its fifth annual Food Litigation Year in Review, in coordination with the expansion of the firm’s practice, has been broadened and renamed the Food & Consumer Packaged Goods Litigation Year in Review. With this rebranding, we have featured a section on the latest cannabis litigation trends.
Continue Reading Food & Consumer Packaged Goods Litigation Year in Review 2020
Leafly and Whitney Economics have issued an annual jobs report reflecting updated jobs and revenue numbers for the state-legal cannabis industry in 2020. While 2020 will be remembered as the year that a deadly pandemic shuttered thousands of small businesses, it should also be remembered as the year that set the cannabis industry on a path to become a leading economic contributor to the U.S. economy.
Continue Reading Leafly Releases Job Report: Cannabis Job Growth “Astonishing”
Perkins Coie is proud to announce the launch of “Cannabis Law: A Primer on Federal and State Law Regarding Marijuana, Hemp, and CBD,” published by the American Bar Association, authored by various Perkins Coie Cannabis Law attorneys, and edited by Barak Cohen, chair of our Cannabis Law industry group, and Michael Bleicher. Until
Though it appeared the smoke might blow in a more favorable direction, the hopes of marijuana-adjacent businesses using the Bankruptcy Code were snuffed out once again by the Bankruptcy Court in Colorado. The Controlled Substances Act (the CSA) makes it illegal to rent, lease, or make available for use or profit from a location for the manufacture, storing, or distribution of controlled substances. Federal law generally imposes criminal liability for aiding and abetting the unauthorized manufacture, distribution, or dispensing of marijuana, which is a Schedule 1 controlled substance. A number of courts have ruled that businesses whose operations constitute federal crimes cannot take advantage of the federal bankruptcy system.[1] Bankruptcy courts have even dismissed cases where the debtor does not operate a cannabis business, but operates ancillary businesses such as the manufacture or sale of equipment that may be used to cultivate marijuana (discussed below), or leasing real estate to marijuana growers.
Continue Reading Another Blow to Bankruptcy Relief for Marijuana-Adjacent Debtors