October 2018

Midterm Elections and Cannabis Reform


The 2018 midterm elections could hold significant consequences when it comes to the immediate future of the cannabis policy throughout the U.S. Not only will a number of states be deciding their local policy, some experts suggest that if the U.S. House flips in favor of the Democrats, federal cannabis reform could shortly follow.

At the state level, California, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, Utah, and Wisconsin will vote on a variety of different cannabis-related proposals. Michigan will decide on Proposal 1, which has the support of 62 percent of registered voters, permits people over the age of 21 to possess and grow personal-use quantities of cannabis and related concentrates, and also offers licensing activities related to commercial marijuana production and retail marijuana sales. North Dakota will vote on Measure 3, which would legalize the possession and use of marijuana by adults and automatically expunge most prior cannabis convictions. Missouri will decide on ballot questions specific to providing medical cannabis access. Utah will vote on Proposition 2, which regulates the licensed production and distribution of medical cannabis products to qualified patients. In Wisconsin, 16 counties and two cities face referendum questions concerning cannabis decriminalization; however, all are “advisory … Keep reading


On October 17, 2018, Canada became the first of the G7 countries (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK, and the U.S.) to fully legalize the consumption and sale of recreational cannabis nationwide – and only the second country worldwide, following Uruguay in December 2013. While recreational marijuana consumption remains largely prohibited throughout the world, there seems to be no stopping the upward-trending legalization movement sweeping the globe. Case in point: 13 countries – Australia, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Germany, Greece, Israel, Italy, Netherlands, Peru, Poland, Sri Lanka, and the UK (effective November 1, 2018) – now permit cannabis use for medicinal purposes.

Over recent years, especially, marijuana has realized a monumental –and, perhaps, unprecedented – shift in public perception and, in turn, investment activity. Regarding the former, take, for example, the UK: its government is reversing policies on cannabis and is now set to legalize its medical use, with a current investigation into relaxing laws that govern when cannabis-based medicines can be prescribed by doctors. With respect to the latter, the industry is experiencing a flurry of global investment from pharmaceutical, alcohol, tobacco, and food and beverage companies, which are partnering with or providing significant capital to cannabusinesses, to … Keep reading

A Conversation with Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commissioner, Steven Hoffman – Part II


Below is the conclusion of the conversation that Burns partner and Cannabis Business Advisory Group co-chair Frank A. Segall had recently with Steven Hoffman, Chairman of the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission, regarding the state of the industry in the Commonwealth.
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FRANK SEGALL: Let’s talk about [the 3% sales tax incentive]. Host-community agreements have received some attention – for those in the audience, the regulations are pretty clear: Towns can charge up to 3% of gross revenue, with respect to costs that are associated – we’ll say directly, but it’s not clear – with operating an establishment. What we’re seeing is, it’s pretty much 3% flat, with no analysis as to the costs. And there are additional requests that towns have been making – we’d like that new fire truck, we’d like that new park – that have created some consternation and raised questions about whether the rules are being followed and the playing field is level. What are your thoughts on that?

COMMISSIONER HOFFMAN: This is a complicated issue – there’s been a lot of comment and feedback on this. We’ve looked at 15+ host-community agreements that we’ve signed thus far, and there are three things that we … Keep reading

A Conversation with Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commissioner, Steven Hoffman – Part I


At last week’s State of the Cannabis Industry Conference, Frank A. Segall, Co-Chairman of Burns & Levinson’s Cannabis Business Advisory group and Chairman of the firm’s Business Law and Finance practices, sat down with Steven Hoffman, Chairman of the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission, for a wide-ranging interview that touched upon a number of hot-button issues regarding cannabis in the Commonwealth. Below is a transcript of the first half of their conversation. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

COMMISSIONER HOFFMAN: From day one, we’ve said that we’re going do this right—we’re not going to adhere to an arbitrary deadline. There are some deadlines in legislation: We had to have final regulations populated by March 15th, which we did; we had to start accepting license applications by April 1st, which we did. We’ve always said that we’re going to try to hit the deadline [for recreational sales], but we’re going to do it right, and that’s more important to us. I’m very proud of the progress we’ve made—we’re doing it right, we’re doing it carefully, and I hope the citizens of this state care more about what this business looks like in July of 2019 or 2020, than arbitrary deadlines.… Keep reading

The Path to Greenlighting CBD


Last week, the industry was energized by the Drug Enforcement Administration’s order placing certain drugs containing cannabidiol, or CBD, in Schedule V of the Controlled Substances Act. This marks the first time in history that the DEA has removed any type of cannabis from Schedule I, and clears the way for the sale of the first non-synthetic, cannabis-derived medicine to win federal approval.

Under the CSA, CBD remains a Schedule I substance, which means that it is not considered to have any currently accepted medical use. On June 25, 2018, the Food and Drug Administration announced that it approved the drug Epidiolex for the treatment of seizures in connection with epilepsy. Epidiolex is an oral solution that contains CBD, and is also the first FDA-approved drug derived directly from the cannabis plant. According to the DEA order, because the drug was recently approved by the FDA, it is now considered to have an accepted medical use. Therefore, it no longer meets the criteria for placement in Schedule I. The shift in policy means that Epidiolex may now be prescribed by doctors and accessed by patients through traditional pharmaceutical channels, rather than through a marijuana dispensary or compassion center.

While … Keep reading