Tracy Gallegos, partner and team lead of the Duane Morris Cannabis Industry Group, discussed the cannabis industry’s mergers and acquisitions (M&A) landscape at the Benzinga Cannabis Capital Conference on September 27, 2023.
The discussion also touched upon the rescheduling of cannabis, with differing opinions on its likelihood. Ms. Gallegos said she skeptical due to formal rulemaking processes and international treaty considerations.
Paul Josephson, partner and team lead of the Duane Morris Cannabis Industry Group, moderated a fireside chat with U.S. Virgin Islands Governor Albert Bryan Jr. at the Benzinga Cannabis Capital Conference on September 27, 2023.
“A governor who really gets economic development,” as Josephson said, Bryan said the region is on the cusp of an unprecedented economic surge. “We have a $4-billion economy right now. And we have $15 billion in sales over the next 10 or so years.”
Duane Morris partner Michael Schwamm has been named to Green Market Report’s 2023 list of Notable Leaders in Cannabis, which recognizes industry professionals who have demonstrated a willingness to effect meaningful change in a dynamic industry.
On August 29, 2023, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services responded to President Biden’s October 2022 call for a federal review of marijuana scheduling: The drug should be rescheduled as a Schedule III controlled substance. Below, we explore questions on the tax ramifications to the cannabis industry if marijuana is rescheduled as such.
Read this Duane Morris Alert for FAQs on cannabis rescheduling.
I have been touting the benefits of medical marijuana for nursing home/senior care residents for many years now. As a cannabis attorney, as well, I have been immersed in the research and studies, showing how marijuana can benefit nursing home residents, just like any other drug our residents may take for their well-being.
But the risks of utilizing marijuana in the nursing home, I’ve been stating, have been too great. Marijuana remains a Schedule I federally illegal controlled substance, and, as such, the Controlled Substances Act defines cannabis and its distinct cannabinoids as possessing “a high potential for abuse … no currently accepted medical use … [and] a lack of accepted safety for the use of the drug under medical supervision.”
Read the full column by Duane Morris partner Neville M. Bilimoria in McKnight’s Long-Term Care News.
Duane Morris, in partnership with FTI Consulting, will hold its next Cannabis Webinar, Distressed Cannabis M&A, on Thursday, October 5, 2023, from 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. Eastern.
Learn more and register on the Duane Morris website.
Duane Morris Takeaways: In Zanetich v. Walmart, Inc., Case No. 1:22-CV-05387 (D.N.J. May 25, 2023), a case of first impression, the Judge Christine O’Hearn of the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey found the New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory, Enforcement Assistance, and Marketplace Modernization Act (“CREAMMA”), the 2021 law legalizing recreational marijuana use in the state, does not allow job applicants and employees to file lawsuits alleging adverse actions based on marijuana use. The ruling is a boon for employers across New Jersey, who will not face the possibility of private lawsuits filed by applicants and employees based on adverse employment actions by employers for their workers’ off-duty marijuana use. However, the victory may be short-lived, as the Court invited re-examination of the law by way of legislative amendment, enforcement guidance, or New Jersey state court clarity on application of the state’s common law “failure to hire” theory to claims under the CREAMMA.
Case Background
On January 21, 2022, the plaintiff applied for a job with defendants in the Asset Protection Department in one of defendants’ New Jersey locations. A few days after his January 25, 2022 interview, on January 28, 2022, defendants offered plaintiff the job, beginning on February 7, 2022, “subject to him submitting to and passing a drug test.” Id. at 2. Plaintiff alleged that at the time, the defendants had a Drug & Alcohol Policy that stated “any applicant or associate who tests positive for illegal drug use may be ineligible for employment,” which included marijuana. Id.
After plaintiff took a drug test on January 21, 2022 and tested positive for marijuana, he contacted defendants on February 10, 2022 for an update on his application. Two days later, defendants informed Plaintiff that his job offer would be rescinded. When plaintiff asked for the reason for this decision, he was advised it was because he had tested positive for marijuana.
To read the full text of this article, please visit the Duane Morris Class Action Defense Blog.
Duane Morris partners Michael D. Schwamm and Paul P. Josephson contributed sections on New Jersey and New York to the Cannabis Chamber of Commerce’s “State of Cannabis: 15 Key US Markets 2023 Annual Report.” Also involved were partner Katelynn Gray and associate Deanna Lucci for the New York section, and associate Miranda Bovit for the New Jersey section.
Read the full white paper at the Cannabis Chamber of Commerce website.
On May 3, the TTAB affirmed the USPTO’s previous decision to reject an application for ‘Bakked’. The filing was intended to cover an essential oil dispenser and was submitted by cannabis company National Concessions Group (NCG). […]
[T]he USPTO examiner, as the TTAB reaffirmed, found that the “primary intended purpose” was to dispense cannabis-based oil to a vaping or smoking device.
Hazy Descriptions
Christiane Schuman Campbell, partner at Duane Morris in Philadelphia, says the word “primary” is significant. Continue reading “Up in Smoke: Cannabis TM Rejection Shows Need for Caution”
News of widespread layoffs at cannabis companies across the United States has dominated headlines, but an analysis of employee counts at America’s largest multistate operators shows several actually grew their payrolls last year.
The fact that employee payrolls were up for some marijuana MSOs at the end of 2022 but down for others underscores how several factors can play a role in determining a company’s health.
Those factors include geographic footprint, taxes, operating costs and capital availability, experts said.
“The present moment is the Great Rationalization for the industry,” Paul Josephson, a New Jersey-based partner and leader of the cannabis industry group at the Duane Morris law firm, told MJBizDaily via email.
“Price compression and profitability varies tremendously by state and even within a state. So smart operators are taking a hard look at where they are investing their human capital.”
That means winding down operations in some areas and investing in others with more opportunity for revenue growth.
To read the full text of this article, please visit the MJBizDaily website.
