Category: Legal

One of the oldest and most popular ways to smoke cannabis is to combine it with tobacco. Mixing the two plants into a single cigarette is commonly known as a “spliff.” Filling a cigar wrap or hollowed-out cigarillo with cannabis makes a “blunt.” Given the popularity of Blunts and spliffs, one might expect…

Now that California has legalized recreational cannabis, intellectual property attorneys are being flooded with client requests to file federal and state trademark applications to protect the brand names of cannabis businesses and products. While the law does not expressly permit the sale of cannabis until Jan. 1, 2018, cannabis businesses…

Nestled between the Coastal Range mountains and the Mad and Eel rivers, about 150 miles north of San Francisco, lies some of the finest cannabis-growing conditions in the world. Sheltered from the blustery Pacific winds but not its moist fogs and rich coastal plain and river terraces, Humboldt County is world-renowned…

It’s no secret that the legalization of marijuana in multiple states has led to a burgeoning, multi-billion dollar industry in the past few years. In California, which is scheduled to begin issuing licenses for legal recreational marijuana businesses on Jan. 1, 2018, the industry has a projected value of $7…

One of the most common questions I receive from employers is, “Do I really need an employee handbook?” The short answer: Yes. For the longer answer, keep reading. A well-written, lawful employee handbook has no downsides. It provides an employer with the flexibility to address innumerable employee actions and inactions.…

The cannabis industry in Washington has a number of problems, many of which stem from the regulatory structure created by under-informed lawmakers and state officials. This will likely also be the case for the five states that passed legalization measures in 2016 — California, Maine, Massachusetts and Nevada. One such…

What are employers’ duties regarding marijuana policies in the workplace under both federal and state laws? To answer this complex question, this article will outline current federal directives regarding marijuana, summarize how different state laws mandate accommodation and provide tips for crafting your own workplace policy. Federal Law When analyzing…

As careful as you are, and as careful as you try to be, bad things sometimes happen. You can take every precaution in the world to keep people from slipping and falling on your premises, but it can still happen. You can put every warning label possible on your product…

Most of this year’s proposed cannabis legislation in Washington never made it very far, but SB 5131 has succeeded in advancing to the final step before becoming law: Gov. Jay Inslee‘s desk. You can read the final version of SB 5131 here. SB 5131, passed both the Washington State House of Representatives by a unanimous vote on…

Navigating the muddy regulations governing the production and sale of hemp is a challenge — even for the DEA. In fact, it seems the DEA has continuously overstepped its rule-making authority when it comes to the regulation of industrial hemp. A pair of lawsuits filed against the DEA in early…