Cannabis Business Legal News

Many of us following the ever expanding cannabis industry in the United States have seen more and more CBD-infused food and drink products hitting the market and becoming readily available for consumers.

Last week, La Shawn K. Ford, a Democratic member of the Illinois House of Representatives, introduced the Compassionate Use and Research of Entheogens Act, or CURE Act, as the very first bill during the opening session of Illinois 103^rd General Assembly. Entheogen is a term used to describe a psychoactive, hallucinogenic substance or preparation (such as psilocybin, the active component in so called “magic mushrooms”) especially when derived from plants or fungi and used in religious, spiritual, or ritualistic contexts.

Last month, the Illinois Department of Finance and Professional Regulation (IDFPR), announced that it would begin accepting applications for 55 new adult-use cannabis retail licenses after January 30, 2023. The IDFPR, the governmental entity tasked with regulating the recreational cannabis dispensaries in Illinois, has issued guidelines for what is being called the Social Equity Criterial Lottery. In order to be issued a conditional license pursuant to this application and lottery process, an applicant must be able to establish that it is 51% or more owned or controlled by one or more individuals who each meet the combination of at least one of the criteria under two distinct categories (A and B) set forth by the IDFPR.

Last Thursday, November 10, 2022, a court-appointed receiver threw the City of Chester, Pennsylvania into bankruptcy. At its most basic, a chapter 9 bankruptcy case is a rarely used provision of the Bankruptcy Code which is designed to protect a financially-distressed municipality from its creditors while it develops a plan to repay them. While chapter 9 filings are currently relatively rare, the combustible mix of the current state of the economy and this case filing could be a portent for a wave of similar filings in the next few years. But what truly separates this chapter 9 filing from those of the past (and gives rise to this alert) is the intersection of chapter 9 and the increasing legalization and taxation of cannabis by states and municipalities across the country. The State of Pennsylvania has not yet legalized so-called adult use cannabis, which is generating truly unprecedented amounts of tax revenue for many states, but it has enjoyed a fully functioning, legal, medicinal cannabis program for several years now, and enjoys the concomitant tax revenue therefrom. The City of Chester, Pennsylvania is therefore deriving tax revenue from the state’s medicinal cannabis program – a program centered around federally illegal conduct and the cash it creates.

On Friday, April 1, 2022, the U.S House of representatives voted to pass the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act, which decriminalizes cannabis at the federal level. The vote was made mostly along party lines. The legislation will now move to the Senate. The MORE Act would be revolutionary legislation for the cannabis industry and individuals adversely affected by harsh penalties for cannabis convictions. The Act, which was first approved by the House of Representatives judiciary committee in late 2019, would officially remove cannabis from the ...

On Monday October 18, 2021, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) issued a notice through the Federal Register that proposed a large increase in production quotas for a number of controlled substances including cannabis and psilocybin (the active compound in so called “magic mushrooms”). Cannabis and psilocybin are currently categorized as Schedule I drugs in the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), meaning that pursuant to the CSA, these are drugs with no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse. The notice issue by the DEA, however, signals a potential ...

The emerging cannabis industry in Illinois has plenty of regulatory issues to contend with including labeling, packaging, destruction and disposal of cannabis, security, inventory, and recordkeeping just to name a few. Dispensaries and other cannabis related businesses should take care not to overlook another highly-regulated area—text message and telephone marketing.

The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) regulates how companies can utilize telephone calls and text messages as part of their marketing strategies. All companies should take note, as the penalties ...

Cannabis, or “marihuana” as it is referred to in the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), has been federally illegal in the United States since 1937. Yesterday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) announced that he will make legislation ending the federal prohibition of cannabis a top priority. In the recent press conference, Senator Schumer introduced a draft of the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act (the “CAOA”), which would lift the federal prohibition on cannabis and, critically, allow state-compliant cannabis businesses to have access to ...

After months and months of controversy around how Illinois managed the scoring and award of the first round of adult-use recreational cannabis retail licenses, Governor J.B. Pritzker has signed a new bill that not only expands the number of licenses to be awarded, but shakes up and expedites how the licenses will be issued. The new legislation expands the number of adult use cannabis retail licenses in Illinois from the originally allotted seventy-five, to one hundred and seventy-five. This bill (HB1443) is a critical step forward in what has been a tumultuous roll out of the state’s ...

Today, two Republican Congressmen introduced the “Common Sense Cannabis Reform for Veterans, Small Businesses, and Medical Professionals Act.” Representatives David Joyce (R-OH) Ohio and Don Young (R-AK) are the sponsors of the Act.  Joyce and Young are also the current co-chairs of the bipartisan Congressional Cannabis Caucus. This Caucus was launched in 2017 by well-known cannabis advocates, former Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, (R-CA) Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), former Colorado Rep. and current Colorado Governor, Jared Polis, and the aforementioned Rep. Young. The Act would ...