A blog chronicling the evolution and implementation of cannabis laws in the United States
In response to the drastic economic impact COVID-19 has had on small businesses in recent weeks, President Trump announced that the Small Business Administration (SBA) was authorized to provide $50 billion in low-interest loans – more than double the amount of loans provided by the SBA in 2019 – to keep them operating during the pandemic. After the announcement, the…
Continue Reading Relief for Cannabis Companies Amid the Coronavirus Crisis Is Unlikely
As the legal cannabis industry has expanded across the US over the past decade, green is the most prominent color seen in this space. In addition to the color of the flower, sales are projected to reach up to $30.4 billion in the US by 2023, States have generated as much as $369 million in cannabis tax revenues in a…
Continue Reading Social Equity Programs in Cannabis – Worth their Weight?
Although the federal government seems to have turned a blind eye to the legalization of the medical and even recreational use of cannabis in certain states, they have not relinquished their duty to maintain competitive markets in the U.S. Over the past year, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) and the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) have used their powers under the Hart-Scott-Rodino (“HSR”) Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976 (the “HSR Act”) to investigate mergers and acquisitions in the cannabis market, even though the operations of such business are essentially illegal under federal law.
Continue Reading Holding Up the Green: Hart-Scott-Rodino and its Impact on Cannabis M&A Transactions
On July 29, 2019, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo (D) signed state legislation that further decriminalizes the possession of cannabis. The bill, sponsored by Senator Jamaal Bailey (D-Bronx), was passed by the New York State Assembly just over a month before it was signed, receiving 39 to 20 votes in the State Senate and 94 to 44 votes in the…
Last week, Illinois courts and lawmakers changed the course of the administration of medical marijuana for state residents with debilitating conditions and diseases. First, on June 28, 2016, Associate Judge Neil H. Cohen of Cook County Chancery Court ruled that the Director of the Illinois Department of Public Health (“IDPH”), Director Neil D. Shah, illegally denied a Petition to include Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (“PTSD”) as a debilitating medical condition within the Compassionate Use of Medical Cannabis Pilot Program (“Program”). Plaintiff Daniel Paul Jabs, a veteran of the Iraq War, suffered from PTSD and had symptoms of “‘panic attacks, flashbacks, nightmares, intrusive memories, hyper-sensitivity to light and noise, over reactive startle responses,’ as well as isolation, mood fluctuations, anxiety and insomnia.” After providing the requisite documents at a public hearing before an Advisory Board, the board members unanimously voted to add PTSD and ten other medical conditions as authorized debilitating medical conditions under the Program.
Continue Reading A One-Two Punch: Jabs v. IDPH and SB 10 Passage Changing the Direction of Medical Marijuana in Illinois
