Welcome to my second cannabis industry developments of 2019! In the second legislative roundup of 2019 we’ll look at the most significant cannabis bills that have been introduced in the following states: Colorado, California, Oregon, Nevada, Arizona, Michigan, Florida, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts. Scroll down to see a summary, the current … Read More
Immaculate Conception: The Mystery of Start-up Genetics
Last November, two more states joined the cannabis movement and at least partially did away with their antiquated cannabis laws. Both Missouri and Utah legalized medical cannabis during the midterm elections, although to varying degrees of legality. As I made the pilgrimage home to St. Louis last week for the … Read More
Tribes and Cannabis: Federalism is Messy
Today’s “legal” cannabis industry grew out of the cracks in our federalist system (a system where other states or governments operate in addition to the federal government). In the US, we have state government powers and federal government powers. Sometimes they overlap; sometimes they conflict. Cannabis is only legal because … Read More
The FDA’s stance on hemp CBD
The cannabis industry heralded the approval of recent legislation that legalized the growing of hemp and the marketing of products derived from it. Actually, to say industry proponents heralded hemp’s return to legality is likely an understatement. Based on the deluge of press releases that came pouring into my inbox … Read More
Cannabis Legalization & The Presidential Campaign: How They Overlap
The 2020 presidential campaign will be a competitive one, with President Donald Trump running for re-election and 535 other candidates (as of February 19, 2019) running against him. Major issues that candidates will be running on include the economy, immigration policy, healthcare, climate change … the usual. But as I … Read More
Regulators send message that compliance matters
Knock Knock! Who’s There? Your Licensing Authority. State agencies across the country are revving up cannabis law enforcement efforts, and the number of businesses now bearing the hefty cost of non-compliance is growing as a result. In Different States In just the last month, administrative agencies in Massachusetts, California, and … Read More
2019 Cannabis Industry Developments: Tracking Cannabis Bills Part 1
Welcome to Bill’s first legislative roundup of 2019! The 2019 legislative session is only a few weeks old, but plenty of cannabis bills are already on our radar. In the first legislative roundup of 2019, we’ll look at the most significant cannabis bills that have been introduced (so far) in … Read More
BCC Regulations: What Retailers Should Know!
You’ve read our blog about the new rules for California’s cannabis cultivators. Then you were rapt by our summary of California’s new cannabis manufacturing regulations. But we’re not done telling you about the new cannabis regulations in California yet! Those on the front line of the cannabis industry, retailers and distributors, have … Read More
New CA Regs: What Cannabis Manufacturers Need to Know
After a year of confusion and change, The Golden State has finally adopted permanent regulations for the industry. This is a bittersweet victory for many California operators as they now have a stable set of rules to follow; but many are still left wanting more. And in that same vein, … Read More
CDFA Regulations: What’s Changing (but mostly what’s not)
Happy 2019, everyone! As the cliche goes: New Year, New Me…Rules. After being notified in early December, it looks like California just approved a new set of cannabis regulations! Effective immediately! So what does this mean for all you Emerald Trianglers and other California growers under the newest CDFA regulations? Not … Read More
3 cannabis industry predictions for 2019
It’s hard to make cannabis industry predictions, but some of the largest markets in the world will open for business in 2019. Billion dollar industries are on the horizon in places like New York City and Chicago. And, most importantly, the federal government is poised to enact cannabis reform. Here … Read More
Federal legalization! What if we copied Canada?
As many know, our neighbors to the north recently legalized cannabis nationwide. However, many don’t know exactly how their system works, or how it would look if applied to the United States. We’ve already looked at what federal legalization in the US might look like, so here we’ll take a … Read More
Cannabis industry: Same frustration, different states
We all know the cannabis industry is a rapidly changing, and more often than not, a frustrating industry to be involved in. Laws vary by state, and even within one state can vary greatly at the local level as well. Legalization comes in many forms, and these differences can drastically … Read More
Cannabis and crickets: Trump AG nominee Barr’s silence on marijuana
So who’s the new AG nominee? As someone involved in the cannabis industry, my response this morning to hearing that President Trump had announced William P. Barr as his Attorney General (AG) nominee was pretty standard. In fact, it was the same thing I’d done a few years before, with … Read More
2019 marijuana rules: nasal spray, weed lube, and butt pot, oh my!
On November 9, Colorado’s Marijuana Enforcement Division (MED) announced that the 2019 marijuana rules have been adopted. For a Regulatory Analyst at Simplifya, that kind of news means it’s time to hunker down with 500 pages of redlined rules and figure out what our clients will have to change on … Read More