It’s funny how things work out – sometimes you find yourself living in a sort of butterfly effect where the tail seems to wag the dog. In 2023, when we first started writing about the traction psychedelics were gaining as...more
As you might have guessed from the title of this post, we are returning to cover new developments in the United States v. Sirois case. A few months ago, the First Circuit released an opinion that we discussed in an earlier...more
To paraphrase the legendary Dave Chapelle, in the midst of impersonating Rick James, “cannabis is a hell of a drug.” Thankfully I don’t mean that in the same sense as Mr. Chapelle/James did. I mean that marijuana and its...more
Trademark law protects businesses’ brand identities and helps prevent consumer confusion. The U.S. trademark system operates at both federal and state levels. Federal registration through the United States Patent and...more
12/11/2024
/ Agribusiness ,
Cannabis Products ,
Cannabis-Related Businesses (CRBs) ,
Controlled Substances Act ,
Farm Bill ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Legalization ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Marijuana ,
Marijuana Related Businesses ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Trademark Application ,
Trademark Registration ,
Trademarks ,
USPTO
When you live in the cannabis world, you have to keep your head on a swivel. While most areas of the law see incremental changes over years — if not decades — cannabis developments come by the day if not the hour.
In the...more
No, it’s not (just) a cruel play on words. Last week, the Drug Enforcement Administration announced a much-anticipated public hearing on the proposal to reschedule marijuana from early December until the first quarter of...more
11/15/2024
/ Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Cannabis Products ,
Controlled Substances Act ,
DEA ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ,
Government Agencies ,
Marijuana ,
Public Comment ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Schedule I Drugs ,
Trump Administration
We at Budding Trends have devoted thousands of words (and nearly as many pop culture references) to the escalating tension between the marijuana and hemp industries. It seems that to many in the cannabis industry this is a...more
10/11/2024
/ Agribusiness ,
Cannabis Products ,
Cannabis-Related Businesses (CRBs) ,
Controlled Substances Act ,
Decriminalization of Marijuana ,
Hemp ,
Hemp Related Businesses ,
Marijuana ,
Marijuana Related Businesses ,
Plant Based Products ,
Recreational Use ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Reform
The DOOBIE Act – yes, you read that correctly – could soon become law. While the law isn’t as fun as it might sound to certain cannabis enthusiasts, it would substantially change the hiring practices of the federal government...more
9/24/2024
/ Cannabis-Related Businesses (CRBs) ,
Controlled Substances Act ,
Decriminalization of Marijuana ,
Employment Policies ,
Government Agencies ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Legalization ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Marijuana Related Businesses ,
Medical Marijuana ,
New Legislation ,
Recreational Use ,
State Labor Laws
Good news, bad news if you’re a cannabis operator that owes money to a creditor. But probably bad news for the rule of law.
A federal appellate court has ruled that a cannabis operator is obligated to repay his debts to...more
9/12/2024
/ Business Development ,
Business Litigation ,
Business Operations ,
Cannabis Products ,
Cannabis-Related Businesses (CRBs) ,
Controlled Substances Act ,
Dispute Resolution ,
Entrepreneurs ,
Investment ,
Investors ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Marijuana ,
Marijuana Related Businesses ,
State and Local Government
The long-awaited, and recently leaked, news that DEA would begin the process of rescheduling marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III became a reality yesterday when DEA issued a formal notice of proposed rulemaking. As we...more
5/17/2024
/ Biden Administration ,
Cannabis Products ,
Cannabis-Related Businesses (CRBs) ,
Comment Period ,
Controlled Substances ,
Controlled Substances Act ,
DEA ,
Marijuana ,
Marijuana Related Businesses ,
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Schedule I Drugs
As we at Budding Trends reported last week, the DEA is set to finally accept the recommendation of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to reschedule marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III under the...more
5/7/2024
/ Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Cannabis Products ,
Congressional Review Act ,
Controlled Substances Act ,
DEA ,
Decriminalization of Marijuana ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Final Rules ,
Judicial Review ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Marijuana ,
Marijuana Related Businesses ,
Medical Marijuana ,
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) ,
OMB ,
Public Comment ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Schedule I Drugs ,
State and Local Government
Cue the Ron Paul “It’s Happening” gif and shout it from the rooftops: DEA will reschedule marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act, per a report from the AP. The United States federal...more
It turns out that if you want to know the Department of Justice’s policy on marijuana enforcement, you just have to sue them. In a remarkably candid showing of the DOJ’s current policy concerning marijuana enforcement,...more
A few weeks ago, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in Aggarwal v. U.S. DEA directed the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) to reconsider its decision not to transfer psilocybin from Schedule I to Schedule II....more
For as long as there have been rules of evidence and courtrooms, there have been products that can impair litigants or witnesses—and products whose use carries the potential to trigger certain stigmas in the eyes of the...more
11/13/2023
/ Admissible Evidence ,
Agribusiness ,
Cannabis Products ,
Controlled Substances Act ,
Crime-Fraud Exception ,
Farm Bill ,
Federal v State Law Application ,
Legalization ,
Litigation Privilege ,
Litigation Strategies ,
Marijuana ,
Rules of Evidence
According to a report from Bloomberg News, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is officially recommending to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) that marijuana be moved from Schedule I to Schedule III...more
Just before the midterms last year, President Biden made two historic announcements that he described as steps to “end” the federal government’s “failed approach” to marijuana. First, he issued mass pardons for federal...more
There may be no area of the law where it is more important to have legal counsel than in the United States cannabis industry. The cannabis industry has developed within the context of conflicting and evolving federal and...more
I was relieved to learn that Albert Einstein never actually said that “[i]nsanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results,” because it seems like a really bad idea to start a blog post...more
Welcome to the third installment of the Editors’ Roundtable, in which our editors – Whitt Steineker, Jay Wright, Hunter Robinson, and Slates Veazey – discuss cannabis issues in the news and take a stab at where the cannabis...more
Let’s face it: Being a lawyer is not a career for everyone. Or most people with a desire for a satisfying life. Being a cannabis lawyer is for a narrower slice of us. It’s certainly not something I envisioned doing as I sat...more
The overturning of Roe v. Wade, combined with a largely unknown workers' compensation case presented to the U.S. Supreme Court — for which certiorari was recently denied — reveal the Biden administration's position on...more
8/5/2022
/ Biden Administration ,
Cannabis Products ,
Certiorari ,
Controlled Substances Act ,
Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization ,
Law Enforcement ,
Recreational Use ,
Reimbursements ,
Roe v Wade ,
SCOTUS ,
Workers' Compensation Claim
When people learn that you are a cannabis attorney, there are a range of reactions. Nervous laughter bordering on incredulity may be most common. Another common reaction is the sentiment that investing in cannabis is a...more
One of the largest headwinds facing the cannabis industry is the lack of access to banking services. Many financial institutions refuse to serve the multibillion-dollar cannabis industry given the regulatory uncertainty...more
6/22/2022
/ Banking Regulators ,
BSA/AML ,
Cannabis-Related Businesses (CRBs) ,
Controlled Substances Act ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinCEN ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Marijuana ,
Marijuana Related Businesses ,
Popular ,
SAFE Act ,
Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs)
The leaked opinion overturning Roe, combined with a largely unknown workers’ compensation case pending before the Supreme Court, reveal the Biden administration’s position on cannabis: The Biden administration doesn’t care...more