[ad_1] Efforts by the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) to legalize prescription MDMA (Ecstasy) appear to have passed a gigantic hurdle earlier this month: MDMA is on track to meet the testing requirements to be a legalized prescription drug, specifically intended to treat the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). After analyzing the preliminary […]

[ad_1] If you’ve been reading our blog for the last few years, you know that California has taken a pretty absurd position on hemp-derived CBD for the last few years. Though the state led the charge to legalize cannabis (in California, “cannabis” is legally defined as only marijuana and not hemp), the state just can’t

[ad_1] As we often point out in these pages, cannabis companies are unable to register trademarks for many of the core products. The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) “refuses to register marks for goods and/or services that show a clear violation of federal law, regardless of the legality of the activities under state

[ad_1] Back in 2015, when I was a regular columnist for Above The Law, I wrote a piece called “Cannabis Advertising: Is Pot Obscene?“. That article focused on general speech issues around cannabis ads. We’ve also written over the years about how various social media platforms broadly prohibit pretty much any speech with the word

[ad_1] This note discusses legislation proposed for this year’s Oregon legislative section. Specifically, Senate Bill 408, titled “Enforcement Reform,” that seeks to amend the statutes governing recreational marijuana and the Oregon Liquor Control Commission’s (“OLCC”) promulgation and application of administrative rules. The chief proponents of SB 408 are the Oregon Retailers Association of Cannabis (“ORCA”),

[ad_1] I recently relocated to Washington, D.C. to join our East Coast practice group and have been inundated with inquiries surrounding the legal framework of recreational cannabis (i.e., marijuana and hemp) in the nation’s capital. So, in light of this overwhelming interest, I thought I’d briefly summarize this issue for our readers. Marijuana In November

[ad_1] Virtually any time that there are transactions involving cannabis company mergers, cannabis company acquisitions, or cannabis real estate sales, and in many cases involving the sale of assets of a cannabis company, the parties are likely to encounter a concept called “closing” in their purchase agreements. Closing isn’t necessarily unique to purchase and sale

[ad_1] Clients have often as asked whether HIPAA applies to the cannabis industry. As with anything else in healthcare, the answer can be complex. HIPAA was enacted in 1996 to help protect a patient’s healthcare information. While HIPAA is expansive, to the extent state law is more restrictive or protective, then state law will control

[ad_1] The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s policy of rejecting applications to register trademarks that identify nonhemp cannabis products, as well as certain hemp CBD products, reflects an unduly doctrinaire approach that ultimately makes Americans less safe. As the cannabis industry continues to enter the business mainstream, the extension of trademark rights to cannabis companies’

[ad_1] On May 3, the District Court for the District of Columbia ( “trial court”) dismissed a petition filed by the Hemp Industries Association and others (“Petitioners”) challenging a DEA interim final rule (the “Rule”) that amended its regulations following the enactment of the Agricultural Improvement Act of 2018 (“2018 Farm Bill”). Although not a