General – Page 11 – Cannabis Industry

September 2, 2022January 26, 2024 by Duane Morris

Duane Morris Attorneys Named to Top 200 Cannabis Lawyers List

Duane Morris partners Paul P. Josephson, Michael D. Schwamm, Tracy Gallegos and Seth A. Goldberg have been named to Cannabis Law Report‘s Top 200 Cannabis Lawyers for 2022/23.

Cannabis Law Report compiled the list from the publication’s annual survey of clients and lawyers in the cannabis legal services sector “as well as our personal editorial decisions based on our reporting of the industry on a daily basis for the past six years.”

For more information, please visit the Top 200 Cannabis Lawyers website.

August 24, 2022 by Deanna J. Lucci

U.S. Senators May Introduce “SAFE Banking Plus” By End of Year

After finally introducing the comprehensive Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act (CAOA) in the U.S. Senate last month, last week Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) softened his prior position on a separate, narrower cannabis banking bill when he said that he would now consider the banking bill with modifications. As we previously reported, the SAFE Banking Act would allow cannabis businesses to access the federal banking system and service providers to the cannabis industry such as attorneys, accountants, bankers and landlords would be permitted to accept payment from cannabis businesses without the risk of violating federal law. SAFE Banking has passed the House of Representatives seven times in recent years but so far has not been taken up in the Senate.

Since the introduction of the CAOA last month, which would not only permit cannabis companies to access the banking system but would legalize and decriminalize recreational cannabis with an eye toward supporting communities that have been most impacted by the war on drugs, Sens. Booker and Schumer (D-N.Y.) have said they would be willing to consider more incremental cannabis reform such as SAFE Banking with added equity provisions. Many are referring to the as-yet proposed bill as “SAFE Banking Plus,” which would ensure equitable access to financial services for minority-owned cannabis businesses and require financial institutions to prove compliance with anti-discrimination laws, among other things.

Schumer and Booker have been meeting with other lawmakers to work on a compromise bill, and Booker said a proposal might come after the November elections and before the new Congress starts in January.

August 23, 2022August 23, 2022 by Duane Morris

New York Cannabis Control Board Approves 19 Adult Use Conditional Cultivator and 15 Adult Use Conditional Processor Licenses; Retail Dispensary License Applications Open August 25

By C. Neil Gray

On August 15, 2022, the New York Cannabis Control Board (the Board) held a public meeting via real-time stream to consider a number of agenda items. Among the most notable of the topics taken up was the approval of conditional adult use cultivator licenses and conditional adult use processor licenses.

Chair Tremaine Wright opened the meeting by providing an update on the Seeding Opportunity Initiative (SOI) that was launched in Spring 2022. Through the SOI, the Board has granted 223 adult use conditional cultivator licenses, resulting in the first farms cultivating regulated adult use cannabis in New York State. Chair Wright also noted that the Board visited three of these farms in July and were encouraged by the progress and creativity demonstrated in such a short window of time. After some additional opening remarks, the Board moved on to “further steps to advance the Seeding Opportunity Initiative” to “continue to build out New York’s Adult Use Cannabis supply chain.” Continue reading “New York Cannabis Control Board Approves 19 Adult Use Conditional Cultivator and 15 Adult Use Conditional Processor Licenses; Retail Dispensary License Applications Open August 25”

July 21, 2022 by Hugh H. Jacobson

New York Cannabis Control Board Meeting, July 14, 2022

On July 14, 2022 the New York Cannabis Control Board (the “Board”) met to consider a variety of topics. Most importantly, the Board approved the Conditional Adult-Use Retail Dispensary Regulations and the online application for a retail dispensary license.

The initial focus of the meeting was on the approval of proposed Conditional Adult-Use Retail Dispensary Regulations. (Generally referred to in the meeting as the “CAURD Regulations”.) The Senior Policy Director of the New York Office of Cannabis Management noted that the CAURD Regulations were designed to provide retail dispensary licenses to applicants who met two eligibility requirements. First, the applicant (or family member) must have had a cannabis related legal offense that occurred prior to the passage of the Marihuana Regulation and Taxation Act on March 31, 2021. Second, the applicant must have experience owning and operating a qualifying business. The Board unanimously approved the CAURD Regulations. The Senior Policy Director also provided a form of online application for a retail dispensary license. This sample form fleshes out the CAURD Regulations. The Board unanimously approved the sample form of application. The Board also ordered that a new application period for adult-use retail dispensaries licenses open and close on dates established by the Office of Cannabis Management. The Board did not indicate when the actual application would be made available for filing but notice of the application window must be posted on the Office of Cannabis Management’s website no less than 14 days before the application window opens and the application window must last at least 30 days. Continue reading “New York Cannabis Control Board Meeting, July 14, 2022”

July 21, 2022 by Deanna J. Lucci

Long-Awaited Marijuana Legalization Bill Introduced in the U.S. Senate

More than a year after introducing a first draft, U.S. Senators Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Ron Wyden (D-OR) finally introduced their proposed marijuana legislation, the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act (CAOA) on Thursday, July 21.

The CAOA is a comprehensive bill that would not only permit cannabis companies to access the banking system but would legalize and decriminalize recreational cannabis with an eye toward supporting communities that have been most impacted by the war on drugs. The CAOA also provides for cannabis industry workers’ rights, a federal responsibility to set an impaired driving standard, expungements of criminal records and penalties for possessing or distributing large quantities of marijuana without a federal permit. It would also create a new federal definition for hemp that would increase the permissible THC by dry weight to 0.7 percent from the current 0.3 percent, and the definition would include all THC isomers, not just delta-9 THC. Other features of the bill include grant programs for small business owners hoping to enter the industry who come from communities that were disproportionately affected by the war on drugs, increased funding for law enforcement for illegal cultivation, and cannabis marketing restrictions.

Under the proposal, the Drug Enforcement Administration would no longer have jurisdiction over cannabis and would be regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) within the Treasury Department. The bill proposes a 5% to 12.5% excise tax for small and mid-sized cannabis producers. It would charge an initial tax of 10% on larger cannabis businesses and gradually increase it to 25%.

The Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism chaired by Booker scheduled a hearing for Tuesday, July 26 titled, “Decriminalizing Cannabis at the Federal Level: Necessary Steps to Address Past Harms.”

While the bill is unlikely to garner the required 60 votes to pass in the Senate, many see it as a first step toward opening the cannabis debate on Capitol Hill and passing incremental reform that could finally end the federal prohibition on cannabis.

As we have previously reported, the U.S. House of Representatives has passed legislation multiple times in the past few years that would decriminalize cannabis and allow cannabis businesses to access the federal banking system. However, none of those measures have yet made it to the Senate floor.

July 21, 2022July 21, 2022 by Duane Morris

Partner Seth Goldberg Quoted in Washington Post Article

Seth Goldberg was quoted in an article in The Washington Post, “Can I Fly with Edibles?”

It is illegal to fly with edibles even if you’re in a state where cannabis is legal and the edibles were manufactured and sold in accordance with state law, says Seth A. Goldberg, a partner at Duane Morris and a team lead of its cannabis industry group. […]

However, that is not their primary concern when you’re going through security. TSA screening procedures are focused on threats to aviation safety, trying to spot things in your bag that could be a potential threat to flights, not finding your edibles. The agency website even says “ … TSA security officers do not search for marijuana or other illegal drugs.”

“THC gummies are not really a threat that the TSA is concerned with,” Goldberg says.

To read the full text of the article, please visit The Washington Post.

July 1, 2022 by Emily Meehan

U.S. Supreme Court Rejects Cases Seeking Workers’ Comp for Medical Marijuana

The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear two cases challenging Minnesota’s denial of workers’ compensation for medical marijuana used to treat work-related injuries.

Two Minnesota employees, Susan Musta, who suffered a neck injury while working as a dental hygienist and Daniel Bierbach, who was injured at his job working for an all-terrain vehicle company, were certified as eligible to participate in Minnesota’s medical cannabis program and began using medical cannabis to treat their pain. They requested reimbursement for the cost of that treatment from their employers pursuant to Minn. Stat. § 176.135, subd. 1 (2020), a Minnesota state law that requires employers to furnish medical treatment as may reasonably be required to treat a work-related injury.

Their respective employers opposed the requests for reimbursement, arguing that paying for someone to possess cannabis is prohibited by federal law, specifically the federal Controlled Substances Act, 21 U.S.C. §§ 801–971 (“CSA”). Musta and Bierbach argued that, because employers are not required to possess, manufacture or distribute cannabis in contravention of federal law, merely providing workers’ compensation for marijuana is not preempted by the CSA.

Their cases made their way to the Minnesota Supreme Court and presented the following question: Does the CSA preempt an order under a state workers’ compensation law requiring an employer to reimburse an injured employee for the cost of medical marijuana? In both instances, the Minnesota Supreme Court said yes, deciding that employers were not obligated to pay for medical marijuana treatment. Musta and Bierbach appealed the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court.

The U.S. Supreme Court invited the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) to file a brief before making a decision. The DOJ agreed with the Minnesota Supreme Court that the CSA preempts state law and recommended that the court not take up the pair of cases. It wrote, “the Legislative and Executive Branches of the federal government are best situated to consider any potential tailored measures to address specific instances of interaction between federal and state marijuana laws.”

The U.S. Supreme Court denied Musta and Bierbach’s writs of certiorari, indicating that fewer than four justices believed the legal challenges warranted the court’s consideration. By rejecting their cases, the U.S. Supreme Court has chosen not to weigh in on the viability of a workers’ compensation claim for medical marijuana coverage, nor has it taken the opportunity to close the gap between state and federal marijuana policy.

June 27, 2022 by Duane Morris

Report of New York State’s Office of Cannabis Management (“OCM”) Board Meeting, June 23, 2022

By Jordan Nittinger

New York State’s Office of Cannabis Management (“OCM”) held a board meeting on June 23, 2022, with nearly 600 attendees in virtual attendance through online streaming. Continue reading “Report of New York State’s Office of Cannabis Management (“OCM”) Board Meeting, June 23, 2022”

June 13, 2022 by Duane Morris

Reflections of a Former Regulator: Three Thoughts on a Budding Industry

By Matthew J. McCarthy

Beginning in 2019, I served as the lead prosecutor in regulatory enforcement actions at the Maryland Medical Cannabis Commission, where I worked closely with the Commission’s investigators and compliance professionals to develop enforcement procedures to help guarantee a safe and reliable medical cannabis marketplace. During my time as a cannabis regulator, I had an invaluable opportunity to help shape the local regulatory landscape, foster productive relationships between government and industry, and observe emergent cannabis regulatory systems across the Northeastern and Midwestern U.S. I hope that the three notes below can provide some insight as to how licensees can orient themselves for a productive present and profitable future. These observations are mine alone.

Continue reading “Reflections of a Former Regulator: Three Thoughts on a Budding Industry”

June 9, 2022June 13, 2022 by Deanna J. Lucci

U.S. Mayors Call on Congress to Pass Cannabis Reform

This week, the U.S. Conference of Mayors – which represents the 1,400 U.S. cities with populations of 30,000 or more – passed a resolution urging Congress to pass the SAFE Banking Act of 2021, the MORE Act and the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act (CAOA), which has yet to be formally introduced.

The House of Representatives has passed both the bipartisan SAFE Banking Act and the MORE Act at least six times in recent years but the Senate has yet to take these bills to a vote. Per the resolution, the SAFE Banking Act would “provide financial security for cannabis dispensaries and related companies and enhance public safety” while the MORE Act and/or the CAOA would “legaliz[e] the medicinal use of cannabis and the adult use of recreational cannabis.” Continue reading “U.S. Mayors Call on Congress to Pass Cannabis Reform”