In October of 2022, the Biden Administration started an official cannabis policy review process, which began with granting pardons to all people convicted of simple cannabis possession under federal law. At the time, this was considered to be the most extensive White House action taken to date on federal drug policy in quite some time. Over the last year, the process shifted to the review of cannabis policy by certain critical governmental agencies, including the Food & Drug Administration (FDA). The FDA conducted its review, and then provided comment to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

Earlier this summer, the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) issued draft guidance for those researching the use of psychedelics to treat certain serious medical conditions including major depressive disorder, PTSD, and substance use disorders. This is the very first time the FDA has provided guidance to the ever growing list of entities conducting research on these controlled substances for the purpose of setting up clinical trials. 

Earlier this month, the U.S. Senate Banking Committee met to discuss the SAFE Banking Act, a critical piece of proposed legislation that would make it easier for the cannabis industry to secure and utilize much needed banking services. Overall, the fact that the Act has warranted extensive discussion by legislators is promising, but passage of the Act as currently styled still seems relatively far off. The meeting, which was entitled “Examining Cannabis Banking Challenges of Small Businesses and Workers,” heard testimony from bipartisan lawmakers, including the Senators who reintroduced the bill (Jeff Merkley and Steve Daines).

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 103rd 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 ...

On the heels of the historic vote by the United Nations, which for the first time recognized the medicinal properties of cannabis and removed it from the most restricted substances under the 1961 Convention on Narcotic Drugs, the United States House of Representatives has voted to decriminalize cannabis. While certainly historic in every sense, this is potentially more of a symbolic moment, displaying the US legislature’s sluggish progress towards accepting the pro-cannabis opinions held by an ever increasing majority of their constituents (2/3 support legalization in some ...

On April 20, 2020, a company called United Cannabis Corp. filed a Chapter 11 bankruptcy case in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Colorado. United Cannabis listed debts to its 20 largest creditors at over $4.9 million. United Cannabis also appears to be a cannabis-related business (or CRB). In other words, it appears that United Cannabis generates at least a portion of its revenue from operating in the cannabis industry. The problem with that is that in almost every case that has been filed in bankruptcy courts across the nation, both CRBs and individuals receiving ...

Lending under the federal government’s Payroll Protection Program (a part of the newly passed Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act)(the “CARES Act”) began Friday, April 3.  Financial relief under the Small Business Administration’s (the “SBA’s”) newly revamped “Disaster Loan” process has already begun.  In fact, many of the provisions in the CARES Act and similar COVID-19 legislation are aimed at providing financial protections and assistance to businesses struggling during the COVID-19 pandemic.  Yet, one of the nation’s newest and thus ...

On December 3, 2019, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency issued joint guidance to financial institutions providing or seeking to provide financial services to hemp-related businesses. The joint guidance clarifies FinCEN’s position that banks serving hemp-related businesses need not file suspicious activity reports (“SARs”) based solely on their customers’ otherwise legal hemp-related business. However, the ...

Earlier this week, on November 20th, the House of Representatives judiciary committee approved a bill –The Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment, and Expungement Act (“the MORE Act”) – that would legalize cannabis at the federal level. The next step in the process will be a formal floor vote in the House, assuming the Act is not marked by any other committees for review. This is the first time a congressional committee has passed a bill that would legalize cannabis at the federal level. The Act will now need to pass the House vote before moving on to the Senate for ...

Spurred by the opioid crisis, Illinois expanded its medical marijuana program to make it easier for patients to obtain registration cards, and to allow patients suffering from conditions that have traditionally been treated with opioids to obtain medical cannabis as an alternative.

This week, Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner—who is generally thought to be hostile to the state’s medical marijuana program—signed into law the Alternative to Opioids Act of 2018. This legislation eliminates the requirement that patients and caregivers undergo a criminal background and ...

A regulatory alert (the “Alert”) issued by the National Credit Union Administration (the NCUA) this week makes clear that the NCUA supports banking relationships between its members and lawfully operating hemp-related businesses. The Alert reminds Federally Insured Credit Unions that pursuant to the Agricultural Improvement Act of 2018 (more commonly known as the “2018 Farm Bill”) hemp is no longer a controlled substance under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) and is thus no longer federally illegal.  However, the Alert also reminds its members that the actual ...

Gov. Pritzker Signs Law Expanding Illinois’ Medical Cannabis Program & Makes it Permanent

Until recently, Illinois’ medical cannabis program was technically a pilot program and it even had an expiration date in 2020. This changed when Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed a new medical cannabis law for Illinois, which will also legalize recreational adult-use cannabis on January 1, 2020. 

The new medical cannabis law had bipartisan support in the Illinois legislature and votes cast earlier this year showed lawmakers’ desire to not only make the medical cannabis program permanent, but ...

Capping off a historic legislative session, last Friday afternoon, the Illinois House voted to approve the Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act (“CRTA”), which will legalize the use of cannabis for recreational purposes by individuals 21 and older. The State Senate approved the bill earlier in the week. Governor J.B. Pritzker, who has championed the legalization of adult use recreational cannabis, is expected to sign the bill into law. Legal sale (from licensed sellers) and possession of cannabis is scheduled to begin on January 1, 2020. While Illinois is the 11th state to legalize ...

Illinois legislators recently returned from a break and the legalization of cannabis in Illinois appears to be taking center stage. State Rep. Kelly Cassidy, an established cannabis advocate and one of the state’s leaders in the push for legalization, is hoping that legislation will be introduced in full detail this week. A prior version of the bill, which was much less detailed than the version expected to be introduced in the coming days, was introduced in January and passed by the Senate Executive Committee last month.

The legislation has received support from new Governor J.B ...

While many following the rise of the cannabis industry in the United States have seen CBD-infused food and drink products hitting the market, what many may not know is that CBD-infused products remain illegal at the federal level. CBD, short for cannabidiol, is a compound in cannabis which has recognized medical value, but does not produce the high or euphoria created by the more commonly known cannabis compound THC. Congress legalized CBD derived from hemp in December of 2018.

Last summer, the FDA approved Epidiolex, the very first CBD medication cleared for patient use in the ...

As many following the state of cannabis law in Illinois know, State Rep. Kelly Cassidy and State Sen. Heather Steans have been working on a proposal for the legalization of adult-use recreational cannabis for some time. They introduced a bill in 2018 but decided not to pursue passage until 2019. Their bill remains in the works, as Rep. Cassidy and Sen. Steans continue to negotiate with state lawmakers, governmental bodies, and Governor Pritzker. While there are some indications that an updated version of the Steans/Cassidy bill will be reintroduced as early as April, State Rep. Carol ...

In what might be its best chance of success yet, Congress is set to hold hearings on legislation addressing the problem of banking cannabis related businesses, including the Secure and Fair Enforcement Banking Act of 2017 or the “SAFE Act of 2017.”  The SAFE Act of 2017 (H.R. 2215 and S. 1152) was originally introduced in the house back in 2017, but since then has earned a growing number of supporters from both sides of the aisle and in both the House and the Senate. If signed into law, the SAFE Act of 2017 would be a monumental step forward for the ever-expanding cannabis business in the ...

Though the government shutdown continues, the new 116th Congress is hard at work and cannabis legislation appears to be a hot topic. In the first three weeks of 2019, three separate cannabis related bills were filed. Here is what you need to know:

The Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol Act, introduced by Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), was actually initially introduced last year by Jared Polis (D-CO), who is now Colorado’s governor. The Act, which reserved the bill number H.R. 420 (yes, you read that right), would bring about the most significant alteration in federal cannabis law this ...

On December 12, 2018, with strong bipartisan support, Congress quietly passed the Agricultural Improvements Act of 2018 (H.R. 2), affectionately known as the Farm Bill. The President’s signature is expected.

Buried within the Farm Bill are explicit protections for hemp production from the Cannabis sativa L. plant, including all parts of the plant as well as any “and all derivatives, extracts, cannabinoids, isomers, acids, salts, and salts of isomers, whether growing or not, with a [THC] concentration of not more than 0.3 percent on a dry weight basis.”  And, this is huge ...

While the official tally is not yet in, it became clear late Tuesday night that Missouri voters have chosen to legalize medical marijuana in their state.

Missouri citizens voted to adopt Amendment 2, or the New Approach Missouri Amendment. Amendment 3 (the Bradshaw Amendment) and Proposition C (the Missouri Patient Care Act) failed to garner enough votes to pass. It would not be surprising, though, if this is not the last we hear from the backers of Amendment 3 and Proposition C. A great deal of money and effort went into promoting the three competing ballot initiatives, and the backers of ...

Last night, J.B. Pritzker, the Democratic candidate for Illinois Governor defeated incumbent Republican Bruce Rauner at the polls. Pritzker will be sworn in as governor on January 9, 2019. One of many issues on which the two candidates were divided was the legalization of recreational adult use cannabis in Illinois. Governor Rauner was a staunch opponent to the legalization of recreational cannabis. He was also seen as the driving force behind keeping Illinois’ Medical Cannabis Pilot Program, which was largely put in place by former Governor Pat Quinn’s administration, one of ...

The popularity of cannabidiol (CBD) products is skyrocketing as a large number of states loosen their grip on the sale of such cannabis-derived products (CBD is a non-psychoactive component of the Cannabis sativa L. plant). Additionally, the DEA’s recent decision to reschedule certain FDA-approved, cannabis-derived CBD drugs, which includes only the drug Epidiolex at current, has many under the false impression that CBD is now completely legal on the federal level. But this is not yet the case. And unfortunately, this false impression could lead to disastrous consequences for ...

In June of 2018, in a landmark decision, the FDA issued its first approval of a medicine derived from cannabis, Epidiolex. Manufactured by Britain’s GW Pharmaceuticals, Epidiolex was developed to treat two rare and severe seizure disorders in young children (Dravet syndrome and Lennox-Gastaut syndrome). However, the approval faced a significant legal barrier as cannabis, and products derived from the plant, remained a Schedule I drug in the eyes of the DEA. Schedule I drugs are defined by the DEA as having no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse.

That ...

The number of states legalizing medicinal and recreational marijuana use continues to rise. According to CNNMoney, legal pot is now a multi-billion dollar industry in the US. In order to weed out the competition, these businesses should seek whatever protections are available. One powerful tool to protect brands in all industries is trademark registration. However, since marijuana is still illegal under federal law, there are significant limitations on how a business engaged in growing or selling marijuana can protect its trademarks on this product.  

U.S. trademark ...

On June 25, 2018, for the first time in its history, the Food and Drug Administration approved the use of a drug derived directly from cannabis. The drug, called Epidiolex, treats two specific epileptic syndromes – Dravet syndrome and Lennox-Gastaut syndrome – both of which can affect infants and children under the age of five. This decision comes following extensive clinical studies of the cannabis based medicine. In the past, the FDA has only approved synthetic variations of Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and other cannabis compounds (typically for use in combatting nausea and ...

A recent decision from the Bankruptcy Appellate Panel of the Ninth Circuit is another in a small, but growing line of cases finding that bankruptcy cases need not be mandatorily dismissed simply because they touch upon marijuana related businesses or their assets.  In turn, that realization could, and should, lead to a much needed change in thought over the general availability of bankruptcy protection for operating marijuana related businesses themselves.

The decision, In re Olson, 2018 WL 989263 (B.A.P. 9th Cir. 2018), involved a 92 year old, legally blind, debtor living in an ...

In the two and half years since Illinois legalized medical marijuana the banking industry remains largely hesitant to bank marijuana-related businesses. This seems true despite a memorandum from the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) designed specifically to encourage the banking industry to provide, and ease the banking industry’s concerns with providing, financial services to marijuana-related businesses. The February 2014 FinCEN memo itself states that it “clarifies how financial institutions can provide services to marijuana-related businesses ...

Welcome to the Cannabis Business Legal News blog where attorneys from Amundsen Davis blog about all things cannabis business and legal news related. 

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