Welcome back to the Week in Weed, your Friday look at what’s happening in the world of legalized marijuana. We’ll start our news coverage in Louisiana, where medical marijuana has cleared the final hurdle and is shipping out to dispensaries.  It’s been a bumpy ride to the sales counter, so any optimism about the success of the program is cautious. Meanwhile, in Utah, there are two different issues with the state’s medical marijuana program.  Several companies…

Welcome back to The Week in Weed, your Friday look at what’s happening in the world of legalized marijuana. Let’s start with the eagerly awaited hemp rules.  There will have to be a bit more awaiting, it seems.  Administration officials, who had said regulations might be available in August, are now predicting their appearance this fall. In other federal news, the DEA has, yet again, not approved new suppliers of marijuana for research.  A lawsuit is…

Last week, several members of Seyfarth’s cannabis practice attended CannaVest West and the Cannabis Business Summit & Expo.  Industry expert panels discussed market trends, private equity, venture capital, family offices, and banking, as well as commercial real estate, which I had the opportunity to moderate. Of interest to TBT readers, a few key takeaways from the event include: Investment Opportunities – many industry experts accept as a given the fact that institutional capital will remain…

Welcome back to The Week in Weed, your Friday look at what’s happening in the world of legalized marijuana. Let’s start with Congress, which had a very busy week.  On Tuesday, the Senate Banking Committee had a hearing on cannabanking.  Full video, as well as member statements and witness testimony are available at the committee website. Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NJ) and Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) have introduced a bill calling for the decriminalizing of …

A New Jersey appellate court recently concluded in Wild v. Carriage Funeral Holdings, Inc. (reported in our blog here) that even though New Jersey’s Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act (the Act) did not “require … an employer to accommodate the medical use of marijuana in any workplace,” it also did not “immunize an employer’s obligation already imposed elsewhere” — such as in discrimination statutes. On July 2, 2019, a few months after that decision,…

Welcome back to The Week in Weed, your Friday look at what’s happening in the world of legalized marijuana. Now that the public comment period for the Food and Drug Administration’s new CBD rules has closed, the agency is planning to release regulations by late summer or early fall of this year.  Any clarity for this industry would be welcome news indeed. California may beat the FDA to the punch on CBD laws, as a bill allowing …