Burns Levinson (Cannabusiness advisory)

MARCH 31, 2022

This March, NECANN returned to Boston after a pandemic-related hiatus with a three-day in-person show. I was fortunate enough to be asked to moderate a panel with Tina Sbrega of Lighthouse Biz Solutions and Cathy Corby Iannuzzelli of Kindtap on “Aligning Cannabis and CPG Consumer Experiences with Streamlined Payment Methods.”

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Burns Levinson (Cannabusiness advisory)

APRIL 7, 2022

Earlier this week, Burns & Levinson’s attorneys Lauren Medeiros Forster and Gustav Stickley V (Gus) spoke on a panel hosted by the Law Firm Alliance about their experiences practicing law in the red-hot cannabis industry. Today on the blog, they’re sharing their perspectives, experiences as cannabis attorneys, and industry predictions.

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Burns Levinson (Cannabusiness advisory)

JULY 21, 2021

This past week, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) unveiled the first draft of his long-awaited bill to legalize marijuana at the federal level. Along with Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), Sen. Schumer presented the proposal at a July 14 press conference.

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Burns Levinson (Cannabusiness advisory)

AUGUST 12, 2020

The Cannabis Control Commission (CCC) assembled on July 20, 2020, to approve draft changes to the cannabis adult-use, medical-use, and colocated operator regulations. A Virtual Public Hearing on the draft regulations was held on August 3 rd and public comments will be accepted until August 14 th.

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Burns Levinson (Cannabusiness advisory)

OCTOBER 14, 2020

Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACS) have had increased activity in the cannabis and hemp/CBD industries over the past year. Presently, these “blank check companies” have raised more than $3 billion.

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Burns Levinson (Cannabusiness advisory)

AUGUST 12, 2022

Buried amongst otherwise relatively straightforward guidance regarding rules related to business operations and timing expectations for the conditional license process was new crucial guidance regarding the use of Management Service Agreements (MSAs) by Conditional Licensees.

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Burns Levinson (Cannabusiness advisory)

AUGUST 10, 2022

Buried amongst otherwise relatively straightforward guidance regarding rules related to business operations and timing expectations for the conditional license process was new crucial guidance regarding the use of Management Service Agreements (MSAs) by Conditional Licensees.

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Burns Levinson (Cannabusiness advisory)

SEPTEMBER 7, 2022

The cannabis market in America has expanded and continues to grow with each election cycle.

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Burns Levinson (Cannabusiness advisory)

AUGUST 4, 2022

Over the past few years, August has become a popular month for cannabis industry reform in Massachusetts. Most recently, the Massachusetts legislature approved a bill, S. 3096, earlier this week that significantly changed many of the challenges faced by operators in the Commonwealth’s cannabis market for years.

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Burns Levinson (Cannabusiness advisory)

JULY 27, 2022

Regardless of the jurisdiction in which it conducts its business, licensed cannabis businesses (“Cannabis Operators”) are constantly grappling with what I’ll refer to as “control issues” while negotiating the documentation of a corporate transaction. Cannabis regulations in most states prohibit people from exercising a certain level of control (i.e.,

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Burns Levinson (Cannabusiness advisory)

MAY 13, 2021

Earlier this week, the Massachusetts Legislature’s Joint Committee on Cannabis Policy held a virtual hearing on nine proposed bills focused on reforming the approval process of host community agreements (“HCAs”) between municipalities and marijuana businesses licensed to operate in those cities and towns.

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Burns Levinson (Cannabusiness advisory)

AUGUST 26, 2022

Join us on Monday, October 17, for Burns & Levinson’s nationally recognized State of the Cannabis Industry Conference! Each year our team convenes national experts and industry leaders to share unique strategic legal and financial perspectives on forecasted trends, regulations, M&A, investments, and more.

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Burns Levinson (Cannabusiness advisory)

JUNE 25, 2020

Class action lawsuits against publicly traded cannabis-related companies more than doubled from 2018 to 2019, with 13 class action cases filed in 2019 compared to 6 class action cases filed in 2018 – a staggering 116% increase.

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Burns Levinson (Cannabusiness advisory)

APRIL 9, 2020

On Tuesday, April 7, 2020, five recreational (adult-use) marijuana companies and one individual, a veteran of the U.S.

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Recreational Business Marijuana Law 52

Burns Levinson (Cannabusiness advisory)

SEPTEMBER 23, 2019

In early August, hemp farmers in central Oregon confronted a dilemma that every crop farmer fears. Severe thunderstorms – showering golf ball-sized hail – rolled through nearly five hundred acres of farmland, severely damaging the hemp crops in its path.

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Burns Levinson (Cannabusiness advisory)

NOVEMBER 19, 2019

Moderated by Scott Moskol, co-chair of Burns & Levinson’s Cannabis Business Advisory Practice, the panel opened with a brief discussion of the lack of standardization in the CBD industry despite the ubiquity of CBD products.

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Burns Levinson (Cannabusiness advisory)

NOVEMBER 13, 2019

See Hot Smoking Topics in Operations Panel here. The growth and legitimacy of the cannabis industry is at an all-time high with nearly two-thirds of the country in support of the federal legalization of cannabis.

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Burns Levinson (Cannabusiness advisory)

SEPTEMBER 19, 2018

After nearly 50 years as a Schedule I federally controlled substance, hemp is set to become a legal crop. If passed, the 2018 omnibus farm bill (which includes the Hemp Farming Act of 2018) will allow cannabidiol (CBD) to be legally sold in all 50 states.

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Burns Levinson (Cannabusiness advisory)

JULY 24, 2019

Early this month, New Jersey enacted new workplace protections for authorized medical cannabis users. Under the new regulations, employers are prohibited from taking an adverse employment action against an existing or prospective employee on the basis of the person’s status as a registered qualified user of medical cannabis.

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Burns Levinson (Cannabusiness advisory)

JULY 3, 2019

The nascent cannabis industry is much like a younger sibling, riding the wake of its forerunner, alcohol. In joining the vice industry’s consumer products market segment, the cannabis industry has had the benefit of being able to follow in the footsteps of the alcohol industry and anticipate potential upcoming obstacles.

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Burns Levinson (Cannabusiness advisory)

JUNE 11, 2019

Retail sales of medical and recreational marijuana in the U.S. have been projected to reach $12 billion by the end of 2019. In Massachusetts, the total sale of recreational marijuana have topped $100 million last month according to data released by the Cannabis Control Commission (“CCC”).

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Burns Levinson (Cannabusiness advisory)

DECEMBER 5, 2018

On Monday, the day after Utah’s medical cannabis initiative became law, state legislators supplanted it with a more tightly controlled plan for providing marijuana-based treatment. That plan is called the Utah Medical Cannabis Act, and it is designed as a replacement for voter-approved Proposition 2.

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Burns Levinson (Cannabusiness advisory)

OCTOBER 17, 2018

Below is the conclusion of the conversation that Burns partner and Cannabis Business Advisory Group co-chair Frank A. Segall had recently with Steven Hoffman, Chairman of the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission, regarding the state of the industry in the Commonwealth. FRANK SEGALL: Let’s talk about [the 3% sales tax incentive].

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Burns Levinson (Cannabusiness advisory)

OCTOBER 3, 2018

Last week, the industry was energized by the Drug Enforcement Administration’s order placing certain drugs containing cannabidiol, or CBD, in Schedule V of the Controlled Substances Act.

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Burns Levinson (Cannabusiness advisory)

JUNE 27, 2018

This week’s cannabis news was filled with high hopes for some and torched dreams for others. On the one hand, the Food and Drug Administration made history by approving Epidiolex, a cannabis-derived medication used in the treatment of two rare forms of epilepsy.

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Burns Levinson (Cannabusiness advisory)

MAY 21, 2018

Not all cannabis-related companies are created equal. In fact, in the eyes of state and federal regulators, they differ significantly, depending on whether they “touch” the cannabis plant—and they’re treated accordingly.

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Burns Levinson (Cannabusiness advisory)

OCTOBER 10, 2018

At last week’s State of the Cannabis Industry Conference, Frank A.

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CannaTech

NOVEMBER 15, 2019

Craig Binkley, a globally recognized branding expert and a member of CannabisBPO Advisory Board said “if you’ve got a great product, great branding, and a great distribution model congratulations you’re about 30% there. While we all think of these as the CBD:TCH ratios, it’s time to think of these ratios in a second mindset.

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Burns Levinson (Cannabusiness advisory)

AUGUST 22, 2018

It’s been a busy summer for cannabis business Section 280E controversy, with three published cases ( Alterman v. Commissioner ; Loughman v. Commissioner ; and Alpenglow Botanicals, LLC v. construing the statute, and generally not in favor of the taxpayer-cannabis business.

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Burns Levinson (Cannabusiness advisory)

JANUARY 16, 2019

As described in last week’s post , 2018 proved to be an exceptionally exciting year for the cannabis industry: five states approved legalization initiatives, Canada ended its nearly century-long prohibition, and legalization was a key issue in a number of gubernatorial races.

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Burns Levinson (Cannabusiness advisory)

AUGUST 12, 2019

On Thursday, July 25, 2019, the Senate Agriculture Committee held a hearing before federal regulatory agencies in the agriculture, public health and pesticides space concerning efforts to implement the legalization of hemp. Representatives from the U.S.

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Burns Levinson (Cannabusiness advisory)

APRIL 16, 2018

After threatening to block any Department of Justice nominations following Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ revocation of the Cole Memorandum, Senator Cory Gardner of Colorado said in a statement that President Trump has given him assurances that states in which marijuana is legal will be protected from federal interference.

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Burns Levinson (Cannabusiness advisory)

SEPTEMBER 21, 2021

On July 14, 2021, Senators Chuck Schumer, Cory Booker and Ron Wyden introduced a bill to legalize and regulate cannabis at the federal level, titled “The Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act.” This short, impactful bill is sure to stir up controversy and polarizing debate among legislators when, and if, it ever reaches the Senate floor.

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Burns Levinson (Cannabusiness advisory)

NOVEMBER 14, 2018

It’s no surprise that marijuana reform resulting from the recent midterm elections made headlines last week, as three states voted in favor of legalization.

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