Dale Schafer Law

#cannabisindustry - "The UFC will no longer punish fighters for using marijuana in most cases, making a major change to its anti-doping policy. The world’s largest mixed martial arts promotion confirmed Thursday that it will no longer worry about positive tests for carboxy-THC, the psychoactive ingredient in cannabis, unless it believes a fighter used it intentionally to enhance performance."

#californiacannabis - Social Equity - ""We currently have 30 retail dispensaries in Sacramento, but zero of them are Black-owned, Brandon Bolton of United Core Alliance explained. To change that, the city council is issuing 10 new storefront cannabis dispensary permits. I think that these 10 new retail licenses give Black and brown individuals a chance to join the legal cannabis space, Bolton said....... Bolton believes the new permits are a great step forward but said there are concerns with how the city will choose who will receive them. I don’t want any conflicts of interest, and I would like the city to be as transparent as they can, he said."

#cannabispolitics - "Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) said in an announcement hours before the start of the new year that his state had expunged nearly 500,000 marijuana-related convictions. The move follows Pritzker signing legislation in 2019 legalizing recreational marijuana use in the state starting in 2020. The expansive legislation also paved the way for 770,000 state residents to be eligible for expunging marijuana-related offenses."

#cannabislaw - ALBUQUERQUE - "A state district judge in Albuquerque ruled this week that Bernalillo County's Metropolitan Detention Center must allow qualifying patients access to medical marijuana, in a victory for advocates that could have far-reaching implications for jails and prisons."

#cannabispolitics - "A California cannabis industry executive is calling on President Donald Trump to use his executive power in the waning days of his presidency by issuing a pardon to a nonviolent cannabis offender. Kyle Kazan, the CEO of vertically-integrated cannabis company Glass House Group, issued the plea for clemency for Parker Coleman, Jr. in an open letter to the president. While there are many thousands of people whose lives are wasting away in federal prison hoping for a miracle, I would like to bring one such person to your attention who is deserving of another courageous act, Parker Coleman, Kazan wrote to Trump. Mr. President, you have the power to end injustice through the stroke of your pen." #criminaljusticereform

#cannabisindustry - "As of summer 2019, only three (3) plant patents had ever been granted on cannabis plants. The first cannabis plant patent was PP27,475 on Ecuadorian Sativa, issued just four years ago on December 20, 2016 to Steven Kubby. The second cannabis plant patent was PP30,434 on LW-BB1. It issued on April 23, 2019 and is now owned by Green Brands LLC. A third cannabis plant patent, PP30,668 on DD-CT-BR5, issued shortly thereafter on July 9, 2019, and is now owned ...by Cannagen LLC. Also in the summer of 2019, a hemp plant patent PP30,639 on CW2A was granted to Joel Stanley on the famed Charlotte’s Web strain used to treat a severe form of childhood epilepsy. It is owned by CWB Holdings, Inc. Hemp plants are in the genus Cannabis, but by definition they have less than 0.3% of the psychoactive compound tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). In 2020, another nine (9) cannabis plant patents issued. Eight of these patents were filed by Biotech Institute, LLC, as reported earlier this year. The Biotech Institute patents are: PP31,535 on Lemon Crush OG, PP31,707 on Grape Lolipop, PP31,724 on Primo Cherry, PP31,752 on Cake Batter Cookies, PP31,874 on Holy Crunch, PP31,917 on Raspberry Punch, PP31,918 on Rainbow Gummeez, and PP32,473 on Bihemp 050924. The ninth of these patents is PP32,318 on MR2017002, and it is owned by Aurora Cannabis Enterprises..."

#californiacannabis - "The California Bureau of Cannabis Control has 30 days to inform all cannabis business owners that they can no longer advertise on highways that cross state lines, according to a judgement San Luis Obispo County Superior Court Judge Ginger Garrett issued Monday. The judgment has state-wide effect. On Nov. 20, Judge Garrett ruled that marijuana billboards on California’s interstate highways are prohibited under Proposition 64, a voter initiative approved in 2016. Garrett then left it up to SLO-based attorneys Saro Rizzo and Stew Jenkins to work out an agreed judgement with the state to remedy the issue. On Monday, Judge Garrett ordered the California Bureau of Cannabis Control to report back to the court within 75 days."

#cannabisindustry - "All of which is to say that, in the face of a complicated legal landscape, both medical and adult use cannabis operators may sometimes assume that the lack of an explicit, cannabis-specific regulatory requirement suggests the lack of a duty to protect confidential information. But generally speaking, nothing exempts cannabis from otherwise-applicable state data privacy laws, nor from common law-based protections for data privacy as may be invoked by an individual consumer in a lawsuit. As such, privacy issues are significant as a compliance issue in the day-to-day operations of cannabis companies, and significant in a transactional or due diligence context in evaluating a cannabis company’s operations."

#californiacannabis - "Part of the revenues from California’s state tax on cultivation and sales of marijuana and cannabis products will go towards helping communities combat impaired driving, the California Highway Patrol said Tuesday. About $27 million will go towards grants awarded by the C.H.P. to law enforcement agencies and toxicology laboratories in Southern California and throughout the state, officials said." #cannabistax

#hempindustry - "Democrat assemblywoman Cecilia Aguiar-Curry introduced a bill in December that proposes placing a ban on smokable hemp. The bill states that unless the federal FDA particularly authorizes it, industrial hemp should not be included in certain products, including medical devices, prescription drugs, processed smokable products like electronic cigarettes with nicotine, smokable flower such as hookah and shisha with nicotine, and products containing nicotine, tob...acco, or alcohol.... The bill, however, allows CBD in food and beverages while demanding safety tests to make sure products don’t contain more than 0.3% THC. If passed, the bill will enable legal sales of CBD products across California, notes Marijuana Business Daily."

#californiacannabis - HAYWARD "The city could require half of any future cannabis businesses to be minority-owned as part of an overhaul of how the industry operates in Hayward. Other changes could include speeding up the process to secure a permit for people of color who apply to open a cannabis business, as well as allowing those arrested or convicted of possessing cannabis to successfully apply."

#cannabisindustry - "In order for cannabis commoditization to come to fruition, you must have standardization. While there are many efforts at standardizing hemp and marijuana crops, like ASTM International and FOCUS, there are currently no existing universal standards. This is critical because a commodity requires that such a basic good used in commerce is interchangeable with other goods of the same type. Furthermore, commodities are most often traded on exchanges and presumed to meet specified minimum standards."

#cannabisindustry - "But Sam Kamin, a law professor at the Sturm College of Law at the University of Denver and a leading expert on marijuana laws, is skeptical that Biden will aggressively pursue the unilateral rescheduling or de-scheduling of marijuana. De-scheduling the drug could upend international drug control treaties, while rescheduling it could undercut state medical marijuana laws, he said. They can begin the rescheduling process, but whether they can de-schedule without stepping on other rules and regulations is more complicated, Kamin said. Treating marijuana like a Schedule II or III drug would create serious tensions with a lot of states. If it was scheduled the same way Vicodin is scheduled, you could not get it over-the-counter as you can in many states. You would need a prescription from a medical doctor."

#californiacannabis - "Among the environmental violations Silva admitted to included water diversion, streambed alteration and water pollution, prosecutors said. He also failed to obtain necessary permits from multiple agencies, including the Department of Fish and Wildlife, the State Water Resources Control Board and the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board. Under an agreement with prosecutors, Silva has been ordered to perform remediation, 300 hours of community service, obtain the correct permits and satisfy other requirements related to his cultivation activities. In exchange, the felony charges would be dropped. If Silva does not fulfill the terms of the agreement, he may face additional administrative enforcement and be subject to a sentence of up to 10 years, prosecutors said."

#cannabisindustry - "Researchers at the University of California at San Diego surveyed 568 seniors at a geriatric clinic in southern California. All were at least 65 years of age, and most were older than 75. Fifteen percent of the seniors said they have used cannabis products within the past three years, with the method of consumption evenly split between lotions (35%), tinctures (35%) and smoking (30%). Over threequarters reported cannabis somewhat or extremely helpful in managing their symptoms, with few adverse effects."

#californiacannabis - "Officials with a cannabis dispensary company removed from the city’s selection process have filed a lawsuit against the city seeking injunctive relief. MedMen, which applied to do business in Pasadena as MME Pasadena, is asking a judge to stop the city’s cannabis approval process until the company is reinstated."

#californiacannabis - "Being vertically integrated is definitely one way to go about entering into the supply chain. We have seen, from our years, a lot of people fail trying to do this. Marie has a lot of good points on why people fail. In some instances, people try to do too many things at once before they’ve perfected one thing."

#cannabisindustry - "Two Oregon wine grape growers have failed to convince a state judge their grapes would be marred by odors from a neighboring marijuana operation.... The judge said she deliberated for nearly eight months since the February trial and had re-listened to expert testimony several times. This was a very difficult and close decision, and while the potential for the smell of marijuana to taint wine grapes raises a threat, a risk, and concerns, there is insuff...icient proof at this time by a preponderance of the evidence that it will damage plaintiffs’ current or future agricultural products, Easterday said. The judge also determined that Steven, Mary and Richard Wagner, the marijuana producers, can lawfully use an easement across one of the plaintiff’s properties and that the defendants are the prevailing parties under Oregon’s right to farm statute."

#californiacannabis - "The city of Ventura wants to start allowing commercial cannabis businesses there if a city ballot measure to tax them is approved by voters Nov. 3. The City Council on Oct. 12 endorsed a framework for establishing regulations for such businesses if Measure I passes in next week's election. The regulations would allow a finite number of commercial cannabis businesses to open in the city, including two retail and five industrial - manufacturing, testing labs and distribution. Cultivation, however, would continue to be prohibited."

#californiacannabis - "Three parcels were investigated during the service of the warrant. The search warrant was issued for these parcels based upon a complaint from the CDFA Cal-Cannabis. While the parcels did possess the required county permit, they did not possess a state license to cultivate cannabis commercially. Both permit and license are required prior to commercial cannabis cultivation."

#californiacannabis - "After voting 3-2 to introduce an ordinance that would allow a limited number of cannabis businesses in Fullerton at their October 6 meeting, City Council reversed course at their October 20 meeting, and voted 4-1 (Silva no) to table the ordinance, meaning it will likely not come back in its current form.... The reason for the vote change was the presence of many Fullerton residents who showed up to speak against the ordinance, many of them from sout...h Fullerton, where the majority of cannabis businesses would likely end up due to the large areas of commercial and industrial zoning in the south. Under the proposed ordinance, cannabis businesses could only locate in certain commercial and industrial zones, mainly in south Fullerton.... If you’re worried about your child gaining access to cannabis when they’re underage, keep marijuana illegal. People on the black market do not care about how old your children are, said another cannabis dispensary worker from Santa Ana. As licensed retail professionals, we go through rigorous testing, background checks, and all the other necessary steps to ensure that people are entering a safe space, getting a safe product, as consenting adults."

#californiacannabis - "San Bernardino now requires a $200,000 bond from business owners beginning the commercial cannabis licensing process. The deposit will be returned to those who open shop within a year. Otherwise, it will be forfeited, under a new requirement approved Wednesday, Oct. 21, by the City Council."

#californiacannabis - "San Diego has filed its first lawsuit based on a failure to pay the city’s cannabis tax, a new stream of revenue that city officials expect to climb to nearly $30 million annually during the next five years. The city filed suit against Grizzly Peak Farms for failure to pay tax on cannabis products the company delivered to dispensaries within the city from its cultivation facilities in Oakland between January 2018 and June 2019. With penalties and interest, San Diego officials say the company owes nearly $10,000 to the city. The city’s tax rate on cannabis businesses increased from 5 percent to 8 percent in July 2019."

#californiacannabis - "Los Angeles might be losing its luster for marijuana entrepreneurs, that is. Long considered the largest cannabis market in the world, and with a customer base that would be the envy of any business owner, L.A. on Tuesday opened its latest marijuana business licensing window. The application process is open to social equity applicants that want delivery permits and to any comer who’s interested in distribution, nonvolatile manufacturing or testing lab... licenses. But the number of applications filed in the first 24 hours less than 100, according to the city’s Department of Cannabis Regulation (DCR) belied what several industry insiders said is a lack of enthusiasm for the L.A. market."

#californiacannabis - "A wrongful death lawsuit has been filed against cannabis edibles manufacturer KushyPunch, Inc. and other defendants in San Diego Superior Court by the parents of Le’Sharia Bre’Aun Steele. Steele, a 28-year old flight attendant who was from Alabama, died in October 2018, in San Diego, after ingesting a KushyPunch Tropical Hybrid cannabis gummy. The suit claims it was Steele’s reaction to the edible that caused her death.... While information about cause of death was not immediately available, the lawsuit claims that after ingesting the gummy, Steele quickly experienced psychological and physiological symptoms, including trouble breathing, uncontrollable movements, increased heart rate, panic attacks, and strange behavior."

#cannabispolitics - "Millions of Americans will head to the polls in the coming days and cast votes on whether or not to legalize the use of marijuana in their states. If past is precedent, most if not all of these statewide ballot measures will be enacted into law.... This election, voters in four additional states Arizona, Montana, New Jersey, and South Dakota will weigh in on whether to legalize marijuana use and sales for adults, while two states Mississippi and South Dakota will decide on the issue of medical use. In each of these states, initial polls show solid support among voters for these ballot measures despite, in some cases, the expressed opposition of those in positions of leadership."