The Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board (“LCB”) issued an interpretive statement on July 22, 2021 (“Notice”), with the aim of resolving questions surrounding the legality of processors making delta-9 THC from CBD. The LCB concluded that cannabis processors cannot convert hemp-derived CBD into delta-9 THC in the legal cannabis market. Processors engaging in these
On Tuesday, March 17, 2020, the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board (LCB) published temporary modifications in an effort to help licensees weather mandated closures or other business interruptions during COVID-19. Below we provide a summary of these temporary modifications and guidance on how to take advantage of them:
Yesterday, October 29, 2019, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) released a draft of the much-anticipated interim rule on the Domestic Hemp Production Program under the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (the 2018 Farm Bill). Since many folks don’t exactly consider 161 pages of federal agency jargon and legalese “light reading,” we’ve provided a
Recreational cannabis became legal across Canada in 2018, and 33 U.S. states have legalized it at least for medical purposes (10 for recreational). Yet, there are numerous reports of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) detaining Canadian citizens at the border—then permanently banning them from entry—when they admit to having even tenuous connections to
This blog post was originally published on GSB’s website as a GSB client update on April 22, 2019. (Authors’ note: Since the publishing of this post, the legislation outlined below was signed into law by Governor Jay Inslee on May 8, 2019) On April 17, the Washington Legislature approved sweeping new restrictions on employers’ non-competition agreements
On December 20, 2018, President Trump signed into law the Agricultural Improvement Act of 2018 (the “2018 Farm Bill”) to replace the expiring 2014 Farm Bill. The 2018 Bill, which passed with strong support in both the House and the Senate, removed hemp from the Controlled Substances Act—but does that mean that hemp is legal?
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s Proposed Legislation on Legalization of Cannabis Under the leadership of New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo (whose party also controls the State legislature), the Empire State appears poised to become one of the next states to legalize the cultivation, processing, distribution, sale, and adult use of cannabis for recreational purposes. Indeed,
Washington Court of Appeals’ definition of trademark rights in Washington Recently, the Washington Court of Appeals waded into the murky waters of defining trademark use when an out-of-state marijuana business licenses a trademark for the sale of cannabis products in Washington. In Headspace International LLC v. Podworks Corp, the Washington Court of Appeals considered two fundamental trademark
Monitoring and participating in administrative notice-and-comment periods may pave the road to faster access to market for CBD (cannabidiol) and hemp purveyors. While we are all familiar with lawsuits and litigation, not everyone is as familiar with the government’s regulatory administrative procedures, and in particular, the notice-and-comments period that commonly accompanies proposed rules. In order
Hundreds of companies in Washington, Oregon, California and Canada are attracting billions in investments from just about every class of investor. But the realities of investing in cannabis are far different from those in any other industry. You’ll need to be fingerprinted, undergo a background check, surrender your banking records and be ready to deal
