deanna lucci – Cannabis Industry

June 1, 2023 by Deanna J. Lucci

Minnesota Becomes 23rd State to Legalize Recreational Cannabis

This week, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz signed into law a bill that legalizes recreational cannabis for adults 21 and older. The law goes into effect on August 1, 2023, and will permit adults to have up to two pounds of marijuana at home and two ounces while in public. The law also creates a new regulatory framework for licenses to cultivate, manufacture and sell cannabis at retail dispensaries. Until the regulations are drafted and licenses are issued, the sale of cannabis in Minnesota remains illegal without a license. Licensed retail dispensaries are expected to open within 12-18 months.

Under the law, non-felony cannabis offenses will be automatically expunged and a board will be established to review more serious crimes involving cannabis.

In the wake of the new law, the St. Paul, MN office of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (“ATF”) issued an advisory warning that Minnesotans who use cannabis cannot legally own firearms. This is because cannabis remains a Schedule I controlled substance under federal law.

The ATF warning said, “Until marijuana is legalized federally, firearms owners and possessors should be mindful that it remains federally illegal to mix marijuana with firearms and ammunition.”

November 17, 2022 by Duane Morris

Could Cannabis Banking Reform Finally Pass In Lame Duck?

In the Nov. 8 midterm elections, voters in both Maryland and Missouri approved legalization of cannabis for adult use, while voters in Arkansas, North Dakota and South Dakota voted no on legalization.

With the passage in Maryland and Missouri, 21 states as well as the District of Columbia have now legalized cannabis for adult use, and another 16 states permit cannabis for medical use.

Despite the fact that nearly half of all states have now legalized cannabis for adult use, it remains illegal under the federal Controlled Substances Act as a Schedule I drug, along with drugs like heroin and LSD. Such a classification means that cannabis has a high potential for abuse and has no acceptable medical use, despite research to the contrary.

To read the full text of this article by Duane Morris attorney Deanna Lucci, originally published in Law360, please visit the firm website.

November 7, 2022November 8, 2022 by Deanna J. Lucci

New York Expects 20 Dispensaries to Open by End of Year and Issues Guidance for the State’s First Adult-Use Retail Cannabis Dispensaries

On October 28, 2022, the New York Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) released forward-looking guidance for those seeking to operate within the state’s recreational cannabis market.

The Background

In January, Gov. Kathy Hochul published an extensive State of the State book, laying out New York’s plan for 2022, including $200 million loan fund in support of social equity applicants within the state’s nascent marijuana market.

The state government set a goal of opening dispensaries by the end of the year that will allow New Yorkers to legally purchase cannabis. Hochul told the editorial board of Advance Media, owner of the Syracuse Post-Standard, that the state would open 20 dispensaries by the end of the year, with another 20 opening each month thereafter.

On October 17, Hochul told reporters that New York is “on track” to open some cannabis dispensaries within months.

Under Hochul’s plan, it is up to the state to select and lease locations for the dispensaries, including 70 in New York City. While the state’s OCM has not yet announced any locations for dispensaries anywhere in the state, it recently issued guidance in clear anticipation of this plan unfolding in the near future.

The Regulations

The New York OCM’s “Guidance for Adult-Use Dispensaries” is a series of prospective regulations for Conditional Adult-Use Retail Dispensary (CAURD) licensees and applications and are immediately effective.

The 27-page document includes requirements and operational rules addressing everything from operations and compliance measures to marketing, sales and distribution parameters, while providing insight into the OCM’s plans for issuing licenses when the time comes. This includes topics of record-keeping requirements, required training for staffers, and inventory and tracking requirements, among others.

While these guidelines are not yet formally adopted and enacted as rules, they at least offer both CAURD licensees and regulators a “working” preview of the New York Cannabis Control Board’s (CCB) expectations for the forthcoming dispensaries.

Indeed, the document states that it “serves to provide the framework that will assist CAURD licensees plan for how to operate their dispensary before regulations are formally adopted. . . and provides clarity on what the Office’s expectations are in relation to those regulations and laws currently in place and the regulations that will be promulgated in the future.”

What Does This Mean for CAURD Licensees?

The state and regulators are gearing up for the opening and development of these dispensaries, possibly within the next few weeks, and throughout the next 15 months. CAURD licensees in New York should adhere to OCM’s newest guidance, in addition to existing Cannabis Law and Title 9 of the New York Codes, Rules and Regulations, until a copy of the final regulations is made available on the OCM’s website.

On November 3, a Business of Cannabis: New York panel discussion ensued, where much of the conversations centered on the importance of providing equal opportunities to small business and justice-involved entrepreneurs to participate in the industry. Panel participants included Tremaine Wright, Chair of the CCB, Crystal Peoples, New York State Assembly Majority Leader, and Jeremy Berke, Reporter for Business Insider.

The same day, Wright tweeted, “[New York] is on target to open stores by the end of the year.” Axel Bernabe, Chief of Staff & Senior Policy Director for OCM, who delivered the keynote more specifically assured, “In 15 months, we’ll have a fully established supply chain built on social equity. That supply chain will form the backbone of what we’re going to build on in the future.”

Qualifying New York small business owners and entrepreneurs should keep a close pulse on this evolving regulatory landscape over the coming weeks and months to ensure they remain in legal compliance and best positioned to take full advantage of this next phase of the state’s cannabis initiative.

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.

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”

November 10, 2021 by Deanna J. Lucci

New York Cannabis Chief Reiterates Social Equity Focus in Speech at Cannabis Trade Show

Tremaine Wright delivered her first public speech since being appointed Chair of the New York State Cannabis Control Board at the CWCBExpo (Cannabis World Congress & Business Exposition) at the Javits Center on November 4. Wright leads the five-member board charged with approving a regulatory framework for New York’s cannabis industry and will oversee licensing of cannabis businesses. In her remarks before 400 people at the business-to-business cannabis industry trade show, Wright reiterated that New York will support social equity licenses for people from communities historically affected by the War on Drugs. “We’re about to create the most equitable cannabis program in the country,” she said. Wright also said that New York will prevent social equity licenses from being sold to large companies by requiring that they be sold to other social equity licensees. However, the regulations are currently being written and there are few details about how the state will help social equity applicants raise capital to start cannabis businesses. Wright also said that all license applicants will be required to share their ESG (Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance) frameworks to operate in the state. The Board has a goal of issuing licenses within 18 months. Members of New York’s Office of Cannabis Management were also in attendance at the Expo.

December 4, 2020December 4, 2020 by Deanna J. Lucci

House Passes Bill To Legalize Marijuana at the Federal Level

Today, the House of Representatives passed the groundbreaking MORE Act – legalizing marijuana at the federal level. The bill passed by a vote of 228 to 164.

As we previously discussed in our November 10th and September 4th blog posts, the MORE Act (Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act of 2019 – H.R. 3884) legalizes marijuana and cannabis at the federal level, by removing them from the Controlled Substances Act and eliminates some cannabis criminal records.

While the bill represents a first step toward legalizing cannabis, states would need to adopt similar measures to fully decriminalize its use – currently, 15 states and the District of Columbia have legalized (or recently voted to legalize) cannabis for adult recreational use, and 35 states and the District of Columbia have legalized medical cannabis.

The bill also makes other changes, including:

Replaces statutory references to marijuana and marihuana with cannabis,
Requires the Bureau of Labor Statistics to regularly publish demographic data on cannabis business owners and employees,
Establishes a trust fund to support various programs and services for individuals and businesses in communities impacted by the war on drugs,
Imposes a 5% tax on cannabis products and requires revenues to be deposited into the trust fund,
Makes Small Business Administration loans and services available to entities that are cannabis-related legitimate businesses or service providers,
Prohibits the denial of federal public benefits to a person on the basis of certain cannabis-related conduct or convictions,
Prohibits the denial of benefits and protections under immigration laws on the basis of a cannabis-related event (e.g., conduct or a conviction), and
Establishes a process to expunge convictions and conduct sentencing review hearings related to federal cannabis offenses.

While Sen. Kamala D. Harris (D-CA), the Vice President-Elect, introduced a counterpart bill (S.2227) in the U.S. Senate, its passage in the chamber is unlikely this Congress as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has declined to endorse the bill.

While this legislation is unlikely to pass the Senate this Congress, proponents of cannabis legalization have hailed the House vote as historic, and an important first step toward generating the momentum and support needed to favorably position the measure for future congressional consideration. And whether the measure would be approved by the next Congress likely depends on the outcome of the two Georgia Senate runoff elections scheduled for January 5, 2021. If both Democratic Senate candidates, Jon Ossoff and Rev. Raphael Warnock, win the runoffs, then the Democrats will control both the House and Senate, with Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris casting the tie-breaking vote.

However, it is unclear if President-Elect Joe Biden would sign the bill since he has proposed rescheduling cannabis as a schedule II drug so researchers can study its positive and negative impacts as opposed to removing it entirely from the list of scheduled substances. While Biden has expressed support for decriminalization of marijuana, expungement of prior cannabis use convictions, and legalizing cannabis use for medical purposes – he has said he wants to leave decisions regarding adult recreational use to the individual states. Nonetheless, marijuana legalization advocates believe this symbolic vote on the legislation could send a strong signal to the Biden administration that this is a Democratic priority.

Even though federal legalization may not be on the immediate horizon, the passage of the MORE Act in the House, and the legalization of adult-use and/or medical marijuana in five more states on November 3, 2020, could influence a Biden-appointed attorney general’s views on enforcement of marijuana related activities. While AG Sessions attempted to reverse the liberal Obama administration marijuana policies set forth in the Cole Memorandum, and AG Barr has reluctantly acknowledged that the Cole priorities have been relied on and should thus be followed, an AG appointed by Biden, given the current pro-legalization wave, Biden’s favoring of state’s rights on this issue, and Kamala Harris’s favoring of decriminalization, might endorse an approach consistent with, if not even more liberal than, the Cole priorities. Thus, while the appointment of AG Sessions sent shockwaves through the cannabis industry, market participants and those who have been standing on the sidelines eager to get on the field seem to have a lot to look forward to.

September 4, 2020 by Deanna J. Lucci

House to Vote on Marijuana Legalization Bill This Month

For the first time ever, the U.S. House of Representatives will vote this month on legislation that if enacted would legalize marijuana and cannabis at the federal level, by removing them from the Controlled Substances Act and eliminate some cannabis criminal records.

The MORE Act (Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act of 2019 – H.R. 3884) would decriminalize marijuana at the federal level by removing it from the list of scheduled substances under the federal Controlled Substances Act, and would further eliminate criminal penalties for an individual who manufactures, distributes, or possesses marijuana. While the bill represents a first step toward legalizing cannabis, states would need to adopt similar measures to fully decriminalize its use – currently, 11 states and the District of Columbia have legalized cannabis for adult recreational use, and 33 states and the District of Columbia have legalized medical cannabis.

The bill also makes other changes, including:

Replaces statutory references to marijuana and marihuana with cannabis,
Requires the Bureau of Labor Statistics to regularly publish demographic data on cannabis business owners and employees,
Establishes a trust fund to support various programs and services for individuals and businesses in communities impacted by the war on drugs,
Imposes a 5% tax on cannabis products and requires revenues to be deposited into the trust fund,
Makes Small Business Administration loans and services available to entities that are cannabis-related legitimate businesses or service providers,
Prohibits the denial of federal public benefits to a person on the basis of certain cannabis-related conduct or convictions,
Prohibits the denial of benefits and protections under immigration laws on the basis of a cannabis-related event (e.g., conduct or a conviction), and
Establishes a process to expunge convictions and conduct sentencing review hearings related to federal cannabis offenses.

The bill, which is expected to be brought to the floor for a vote and pass sometime this month, was originally introduced last year by Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y. and approved by the House Judiciary Committee in November. While a counterpart bill (S.2227) has been introduced in the U.S. Senate by Sen. Kamala D. Harris (D-CA) – the Democratic Vice Presidential nominee – its passage in the chamber is unlikely as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has declined to endorse the bill, making its chances of successfully moving through committee and to the Senate floor for a vote virtually impossible. Without action in the Senate, the bill will die this Congress. However, proponents of cannabis legalization – as well as civil rights and civil liberties organizations, and criminal justice reform advocates – are still hailing the House vote as historic, and an important first step toward generating the momentum and support needed to favorably position the measure for future congressional consideration.

Prospects for the successful consideration and approval of the measure by the next Congress will likely hinge on the outcome of the November election.

Vice President Joe Biden, the Democratic presidential nominee, has proposed rescheduling cannabis as a schedule II drug so researchers can study its positive and negative impacts. Biden has expressed support for decriminalization of marijuana, expungement of prior cannabis use convictions, and legalizing cannabis use for medical purposes – but wants to leave decisions regarding adult recreational use to the individual states. If elected, Biden and Harris would likely seek to decriminalize cannabis but stop short of advocating for federal adult use legalization, allowing the individual states to decide.