March 2018

Moskol in MJBizDaily: Massachusetts’ Recreational Marijuana Market Offers Opportunities, Pitfalls Aplenty


The following quotes have been excerpted from an article, written by Omar Sacirbey, that originally appeared on the website of Marijuana Business Daily on March 22, 2018. 

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“If you’re able to get open [in Massachusetts], you’re going to see a more protected environment,” said Scott Moskol. “We’re not going to see the downward pricing pressures as quickly,” he added.

Moskol [further] noted, there will be “plenty of room for brands in Massachusetts to establish themselves and gain a following.”

Read the full article here.

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Scott Moskol will present twice at this weekend’s 4th Annual New England Cannabis Conference (NECANN). Tickets are available at this link.… Keep reading

Green Hands Aren't Unclean Hands: 9th Circuit BAP Retreats from Mandatory Dismissal in Marijuana Cases


A 92-year-old landlord who leased a storefront to a marijuana dispensary will receive a new hearing after a court dismissed her bankruptcy case on the grounds that acceptance of rent payments from the dispensary disqualified her from bankruptcy relief. Last month, a Bankruptcy Appellate Panel for the 9th Circuit remanded the Chapter 13 case after finding that the Court did not adequately detail a bad faith finding and, therefore, did not support its conclusion that the debtor violated federal law (namely, the Controlled Substances Act).

The landlord, Patricia Olson, owned a shopping center in Lake Tahoe, California, and, in 2013, began leasing space to Tahoe Wellness Cooperative, a state-licensed dispensary. However, the CSA makes it illegal to knowingly lease a property for the purpose of distributing marijuana. At the initial hearing to authorize the sale of the shopping center, the Bankruptcy Court for the District of Nevada took issue with the fact that Ms. Olson had continued to accept rent payments from the dispensary during her bankruptcy proceedings. The Court went so far as to say that Ms. Olson committed a crime by leasing to a business operation deemed illegal under the CSA. Accordingly, the Court concluded that … Keep reading

Bank On It: States Taking a Proactive Approach to Cannabis Banking


When it comes to the cannabis industry, banks and other financial institutions can find themselves in particularly murky legal waters (see Banking & Cannabis: Where Do Things Stand?). Federal rules dictate that banks and financial institutions that accept deposits from cannabis-related businesses may be liable for penalties, which has led to cannabis-related business in many states being conducted almost entirely in cash. Not only does this result in operational hurdles, particularly when it comes to paying taxes and compensating employees, it can also result in large amounts of cash being stored onsite, which, in turn, can lead to increased crime and an unsafe work environment. As California Senator Robert Hertzberg pointed out, “these business handle significant economic activity, yet they are forced to operate under the table and with little government oversight, as if they’re a black-market operation.”

Historically, under the Cole Memo, the consensus seems to have been that financial institutions would not be penalized in states that have legalized cannabis, unless those financial institutions were willfully ignorant to customer activities that could lend themselves to criminal financial transactions (e.g., the concealment of funds derived from other illegal activity, or the use of marijuana proceeds to support … Keep reading