marijuana business attorneys

December 30, 2018

One Year at California Recreational Marijuana: L.A. Cannabis Law Firm Looks Back

When California passed a measure permitting the sale of marijuana for recreation, there was a presumption that within short order, there would be cannabis farms cropping up all over the state, shops in almost every city and that adult consumers could score a stash with a stroll down the street or a quick dash across town. However, as our Los Angeles marijuana business owners have observed, the reality hasn’t quite measured up. In fact, while this is indeed the largest market in the U.S., it hasn’t performed at the same clip the state and business owners would have hoped. Los Angeles marijuana lawyer business

As recently reported by The Los Angeles Times, factors at play include retail operations bridled by a host of regulations, oppressive taxes and decisions made in most cities to prohibit the retail stores. Cannabis law firms have also noted some shops have been dragged to city hall over neighbor’s complaints their presence is a nuisance. Police in several districts have expressed concern about crimes related to both the industry and illicit trade, which hasn’t completely disappeared, given the markup prices on legal marijuana.

Los Angeles marijuana attorneys see a wide range of legal cannabis challenges for the incoming governor, Gavin Newsome, who takes office in January. These include initiatives like:

Inability of California marijuana shops to access banking services.
Crippling tax burdens on pot shop retailers.
Illicit marijuana cultivation and sales, mostly stemming from high cannabis costs due to government taxation and regulation.
Problematic issues with sales of marijuana to minors.
Stifled growth of cannabis industry due to ongoing federal restriction on the drug.

November 10, 2018

Los Angeles Logjam in Marijuana Business Licensing and Lawsuits

By Cannabis Law Group

While the California marijuana market has scored some major wins in recent years, most notably with recreational legalization in 2016, there have been a number of significant growing pains along the way. A couple of the more significant issues our Los Angeles marijuana business attorneys see facing clients is problems with legal permitting for pot shops in L.A. and litigation over intellectual property, such as trademarks and propriety business information. marijuana business license

Poised to be the largest marijuana market in the world, the way in which Los Angeles tackles these issues is likely to be closely watched and highly influential (for better or worse). But, unfortunately, many hundreds of marijuana entrepreneurs have been left cooling their heels as the city works through the regulatory rollout of its commercial cannabis oversight.

Marijuana Business Licensing Headaches

Unfortunately, there is no guarantee that’s going to pay off because the significant snag is licensing. City officials gave the green light to nearly 170 marijuana retailers. Meanwhile, among farmers, producers/ edibles manufacturers, distributors, quality control test labs and others, the number of combined permits the city has issued is: Zero. Zip. None. Continue reading

January 29, 2018

Northern California County Rolls Back Marijuana Legalization

By Cannabis Law Group

As of January 1, California rolled out Proposition 64, The Adult Use of Marijuana Act, making recreational marijuana legal in the state. However, the marijuana legalization attorneys new law did not automatically make cannabis legal everywhere in California. It is still up to local governments to regulate, restrict, and ban as they see fit or to open the floor to residential votes. Therefore, many Californians have been disappointed to discover their local laws are prohibitive to using, growing, or distributing marijuana.

Even more disappointing, though, is when the law changes in a region that initially legalized marijuana, especially for citizens who have already made significant investments in the cannabis industry.

This is the case in Calaveras County in Northern California, where the board of supervisors voted 3-2 to ban commercial marijuana. The board included four newly elected members who campaigned last year on promises of banning marijuana, according to an article from Associated Press. The decision will have broad-sweeping effects on some 200 cannabis farms that will now have only three months to shut down operations. Continue reading

December 12, 2017

California Now Accepting Recreational Marijuana Business License Applications

By Cannabis Law Group

Last week, the state of California started accepting applications from marijuana businesses and start-ups seeking to operate within the state’s legalized marijuana industry in 2018. This is a major milestone from this burgeoning market, and it’s being furthered by a new online system that will allow retailers, distributors and product testing services to obtain the licensing necessary to engage in business under newly unveiled state regulations. marijuana business lawyer

Sales of recreational marijuana in California will begin Jan. 2nd. Although our state was the first to approve of medical marijuana with Proposition 215 in 1996, we have lagged when it comes to implementing recreational marijuana sales. Still, as the largest state to enact such a law, many other states following suit will be watching carefully. The state’s Bureau of Cannabis Control (the Bureau of Medical Cannabis Regulation prior to the passage of Proposition 64) announced that with applications beginning to be submitted, we’re one step closer to the issuance of the first commercial cannabis business approvals.

The launch of the online system appeared to be going well, with officials saying visitors were mostly just exploring the site as opposed to actually sending in full applications. Some got started on an application, submitting certain bits of information, and then saved it to finish later. Temporary licenses, which are effective for four months, won’t be effective until the beginning of the year, and businesses must first obtain a local permit before they can successfully apply for a state-issued license. These temporary licenses cost $1,000 per application fee. A background check requirement is to be waived. Continue reading

August 23, 2017

From Ghost Town to Green Town: Marijuana Business Buys Community for Cannabis Tourism

By Cannabis Law Group

The town of Nipton, California is a small, unincorporated community in San Bernardino County bordering the Mojave National Preserve. An old cattle-loading and mining town, its population today fluctuates somewhere between 6 and 30. About three decades ago, a gold miner from Malibu purchased the ghost town. As The New York Times reported, the goal was to a community that could run on clean energy entirely of its own making. It was this foundation that recently attracted the business eye of a cannabis technology firm, which purchased the town for $5 million. ghosttown

Now, owners of American Green Inc. say the goal is to turn the 80-acre community into an eco-tourism destination for conscious cannabis consumers. The fact that the city runs totally on a self-sufficient, off-the-grid energy system from a solar farm is likely to be attractive to many marijuana enthusiasts across the country. Already existing in the town is old western hotel, an RV park, a coffee shop and a handful of homes. American Green plans to expand the farm to manufacture and sell marijuana-infused water from the town’s aquifer. The company is also in talks with others in the marijuana industry business, in hopes of interesting them to relocate and bring more jobs to the tiny town.

As for whether it will be renamed, that’s not yet clear. Continue reading