Ronald Reagan famously asked voters, on the eve of the 1980 presidential election, to ask themselves whether they were better off than they were four years ago. It was a powerful question that asked Americans to take stock of...more
To paraphrase the legendary Dave Chapelle, in the midst of impersonating Rick James, “cannabis is a hell of a drug.” Thankfully I don’t mean that in the same sense as Mr. Chapelle/James did. I mean that marijuana and its...more
If you haven’t seen Ted Lasso, you need to do that immediately (after reading this). In the final episode of the first season, Ted Lasso – an American football coach hired, for reasons that don’t matter here, to coach an...more
What if I told you that you could get a license to test medical cannabis in Alabama this July? Now is that something you might be interested in?
Lost amidst the torrent of confusing messages and general circus surrounding...more
For the hemp industry, it appears the beatings will continue until morale improves. Following the lead of a number of other states in recent years, the Alabama Legislature is set to consider a measure that would eliminate...more
Longtime readers of Budding Trends (and there are dozens of you) know that I have been saying over and over recently that – as counterintuitive as it may sound – the fastest way to get Alabama’s medical cannabis program...more
2/13/2025
/ Alabama ,
Appeals ,
Appellate Courts ,
Jurisdiction ,
Licensing Rules ,
Litigation Strategies ,
Marijuana ,
Medical Marijuana ,
New Legislation ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Regulatory Reform ,
State and Local Government
Advocates and stakeholders in the medical cannabis world of Alabama are desperate. And as it is so often when we are faced with a desperate situation, we make well-intentioned but ultimately flawed decisions....more
2/12/2025
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Alabama ,
Cannabis Products ,
Licenses ,
Marijuana ,
Medical Marijuana ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Reform ,
State and Local Government ,
State Legislatures
Anyone who thought that the momentum towards federal liberalization of marijuana would be a straight line found themselves with a cold dash of water to the face. Late last week Republican senators filed a bill, entitled the...more
2/11/2025
/ Cannabis-Related Businesses (CRBs) ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
IRS ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Marijuana ,
Marijuana Related Businesses ,
New Legislation ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Tax Credits ,
Tax Deductions ,
Tax Liability ,
Tax Reform
“The overhead view is of me in a maze.”
I don’t know what it says about me that the great Trey Anastasio and Tom Marshall of Phish fame were able to encapsulate my feelings so neatly – and the feelings of so many...more
1/28/2025
/ Alabama ,
Appeals ,
Appellate Courts ,
Business Licenses ,
Compliance ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Legalization ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Marijuana ,
Medical Marijuana ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
State and Local Government
A few weeks ago, someone at a holiday party asked “Whitt, why doesn’t Budding Trends take on the weighty legal issues of the day and instead resort to cheap pop culture references and puns?” I thought about responding with a...more
1/14/2025
/ Banking Sector ,
Compliance ,
Controlled Substances ,
DEA ,
Dispensaries ,
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Interstate Commerce ,
Investment ,
Investors ,
Marijuana ,
Marijuana Related Businesses ,
Medical Marijuana ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Pharmacies ,
Private Equity ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Schedule I Drugs ,
State and Local Government ,
State Taxes ,
Tax Liability ,
Tax Reform
It’s the first week of January, and you all know what that means in the blogging game: It’s time to make wild predictions about the coming year. As always, making predictions is hard, particularly when they’re about the...more
1/6/2025
/ Agribusiness ,
Banking Sector ,
Business Licenses ,
Cannabis Products ,
Cannabis-Related Businesses (CRBs) ,
Dispensaries ,
Farm Bill ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Hemp ,
Hemp Cultivation ,
Hemp Related Businesses ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Marijuana ,
Marijuana Cultivation ,
Marijuana Related Businesses ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
SAFE ,
State and Local Government
2024 was a banner year for cannabis lawmakers and business operators. From Kamala Harris advocating for marijuana reforms to California’s clash of titans between hemp and marijuana markets, there was no shortage of drama in...more
12/31/2024
/ Agribusiness ,
Cannabis Products ,
Cannabis-Related Businesses (CRBs) ,
DEA ,
Decriminalization of Marijuana ,
Dispensaries ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Farm Bill ,
Hemp ,
Hemp Cultivation ,
Hemp Related Businesses ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Marijuana ,
Marijuana Cultivation ,
Marijuana Related Businesses ,
Medical Marijuana ,
Recreational Use ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
State and Local Government ,
State Legislatures ,
Trump Administration
Trademark law protects businesses’ brand identities and helps prevent consumer confusion. The U.S. trademark system operates at both federal and state levels. Federal registration through the United States Patent and...more
12/11/2024
/ Agribusiness ,
Cannabis Products ,
Cannabis-Related Businesses (CRBs) ,
Controlled Substances Act ,
Farm Bill ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Legalization ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Marijuana ,
Marijuana Related Businesses ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Trademark Application ,
Trademark Registration ,
Trademarks ,
USPTO
Part of the reason we started a Cannabis Industry team at a Southeastern-based law firm before any Southeastern state had adopted a marijuana program was because we had a hunch that the expansion of cannabis would eventually...more
12/6/2024
/ Agribusiness ,
Cannabidiol (CBD) oil ,
Cannabis Products ,
Cannabis-Related Businesses (CRBs) ,
Decriminalization of Marijuana ,
Dispensaries ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Healthcare ,
Hemp ,
Hemp Cultivation ,
Hemp Related Businesses ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Marijuana ,
Marijuana Related Businesses ,
Medical Marijuana ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
State and Local Government ,
THC
On November 7, 2023, Ohio approved an adult-use marijuana measure that allows individuals age 21 and older to grow marijuana and possess up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana in non-extract form and 15 grams of marijuana extract. A...more
I would love to hear from our award-winning readers if they are aware of a scenario when doing something illegal is legal because it’s illegal. Another federal court in California ruled last week that the dormant Commerce...more
Raising capital is always fraught with risk and uncertainty for any company. Those risks and uncertainties are magnified exponentially when it comes to raising capital for cannabis companies. Cannabis companies and potential...more
Over the last week, I have had water cooler-type conversations about President-elect Trump’s nominations to his would-be cabinet. Most of them have been policy-based and levelheaded. The nomination of Matt Gaetz as attorney...more
When you live in the cannabis world, you have to keep your head on a swivel. While most areas of the law see incremental changes over years — if not decades — cannabis developments come by the day if not the hour.
In the...more
No, it’s not (just) a cruel play on words. Last week, the Drug Enforcement Administration announced a much-anticipated public hearing on the proposal to reschedule marijuana from early December until the first quarter of...more
11/15/2024
/ Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Cannabis Products ,
Controlled Substances Act ,
DEA ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ,
Government Agencies ,
Marijuana ,
Public Comment ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Schedule I Drugs ,
Trump Administration
The title of this post comes, of course, from The Who’s classic track “Won’t Get Fooled Again.” This post analyzes whether there is cause for worry on the part of cannabis operators – both marijuana and hemp – under a second...more
11/12/2024
/ Agribusiness ,
Cannabis Products ,
Cannabis-Related Businesses (CRBs) ,
Decriminalization of Marijuana ,
Farm Bill ,
Hemp ,
Marijuana ,
Marijuana Cultivation ,
Marijuana Related Businesses ,
New Legislation ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Trump Administration
I adore the film (and, as always, I stress the word “film”) Trading Places. It has it all: Eddie Murphy hitting his prime, a wonderfully smug Dan Akroyd, Jamie Lee Curtis doing her thing, and it’s all wrapped up in a...more
10/31/2024
/ Cannabis Products ,
Cannabis-Related Businesses (CRBs) ,
Controlled Substances ,
CUTPA ,
Dispensaries ,
Farm Bill ,
Federal v State Law Application ,
Hemp ,
Hemp Related Businesses ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Litigation Strategies ,
Marijuana ,
Marijuana Related Businesses ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
State and Local Government
Legend has it that Alice Cooper originally titled his hit “Preschool’s Out Forever.” I made that up, but it occurred to me when I read a headline from Law360 that read “Under Pot Law, Preschool Isn’t ‘School,’ Ariz. Court...more
Believe it or not, I actually spend a lot of time deciding whether something is worth taking the time to write about. Cannabis news is developing as rapidly as any area of the law, and there are only so many hours in a day....more
As you read along here, try this mantra: Trust your eyes. Don’t allow yourself to be gaslit. You may recall from our previous post that we think the United States Supreme Court could overrule the marijuana provisions of the...more