Cannabis, or “marihuana” as it is referred to in the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), has been federally illegal in the United States since 1937. Yesterday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) announced that he will make legislation ending the federal prohibition of cannabis a top priority. In the recent press conference, Senator Schumer introduced a draft of the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act (the “CAOA”), which would lift the federal prohibition on cannabis and, critically, allow state-compliant cannabis businesses to have access to ...

After months and months of controversy around how Illinois managed the scoring and award of the first round of adult-use recreational cannabis retail licenses, Governor J.B. Pritzker has signed a new bill that not only expands the number of licenses to be awarded, but shakes up and expedites how the licenses will be issued. The new legislation expands the number of adult use cannabis retail licenses in Illinois from the originally allotted seventy-five, to one hundred and seventy-five. This bill (HB1443) is a critical step forward in what has been a tumultuous roll out of the state’s ...

Today, two Republican Congressmen introduced the “Common Sense Cannabis Reform for Veterans, Small Businesses, and Medical Professionals Act.” Representatives David Joyce (R-OH) Ohio and Don Young (R-AK) are the sponsors of the Act.  Joyce and Young are also the current co-chairs of the bipartisan Congressional Cannabis Caucus. This Caucus was launched in 2017 by well-known cannabis advocates, former Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, (R-CA) Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), former Colorado Rep. and current Colorado Governor, Jared Polis, and the aforementioned Rep. Young. The Act would ...

On the heels of the historic vote by the United Nations, which for the first time recognized the medicinal properties of cannabis and removed it from the most restricted substances under the 1961 Convention on Narcotic Drugs, the United States House of Representatives has voted to decriminalize cannabis. While certainly historic in every sense, this is potentially more of a symbolic moment, displaying the US legislature’s sluggish progress towards accepting the pro-cannabis opinions held by an ever increasing majority of their constituents (2/3 support legalization in some ...

On April 20, 2020, a company called United Cannabis Corp. filed a Chapter 11 bankruptcy case in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Colorado. United Cannabis listed debts to its 20 largest creditors at over $4.9 million. United Cannabis also appears to be a cannabis-related business (or CRB). In other words, it appears that United Cannabis generates at least a portion of its revenue from operating in the cannabis industry. The problem with that is that in almost every case that has been filed in bankruptcy courts across the nation, both CRBs and individuals receiving ...

Lending under the federal government’s Payroll Protection Program (a part of the newly passed Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act)(the “CARES Act”) began Friday, April 3.  Financial relief under the Small Business Administration’s (the “SBA’s”) newly revamped “Disaster Loan” process has already begun.  In fact, many of the provisions in the CARES Act and similar COVID-19 legislation are aimed at providing financial protections and assistance to businesses struggling during the COVID-19 pandemic.  Yet, one of the nation’s newest and thus ...

On December 3, 2019, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency issued joint guidance to financial institutions providing or seeking to provide financial services to hemp-related businesses. The joint guidance clarifies FinCEN’s position that banks serving hemp-related businesses need not file suspicious activity reports (“SARs”) based solely on their customers’ otherwise legal hemp-related business. However, the ...

Earlier this week, on November 20th, the House of Representatives judiciary committee approved a bill –The Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment, and Expungement Act (“the MORE Act”) – that would legalize cannabis at the federal level. The next step in the process will be a formal floor vote in the House, assuming the Act is not marked by any other committees for review. This is the first time a congressional committee has passed a bill that would legalize cannabis at the federal level. The Act will now need to pass the House vote before moving on to the Senate for ...

Spurred by the opioid crisis, Illinois expanded its medical marijuana program to make it easier for patients to obtain registration cards, and to allow patients suffering from conditions that have traditionally been treated with opioids to obtain medical cannabis as an alternative.

This week, Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner—who is generally thought to be hostile to the state’s medical marijuana program—signed into law the Alternative to Opioids Act of 2018. This legislation eliminates the requirement that patients and caregivers undergo a criminal background and ...

A regulatory alert (the “Alert”) issued by the National Credit Union Administration (the NCUA) this week makes clear that the NCUA supports banking relationships between its members and lawfully operating hemp-related businesses. The Alert reminds Federally Insured Credit Unions that pursuant to the Agricultural Improvement Act of 2018 (more commonly known as the “2018 Farm Bill”) hemp is no longer a controlled substance under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) and is thus no longer federally illegal.  However, the Alert also reminds its members that the actual ...

Welcome to the Cannabis Business Legal News blog where attorneys from Amundsen Davis blog about all things cannabis business and legal news related. 

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