March 2019


Just months ago, the hemp industry seemed to be on a clear path to legal certainty when the 2018 Farm Bill was passed on December 20, 2018 (the “2018 Farm Bill”). Though the passage of the 2018 Farm Bill legalized the production of industrial hemp, one of the main sources of cannabidiol (“CBD”), and the transport of hemp-derived CBD products across state lines, the CBD industry now finds itself in a state of disarray. So why all the confusion surrounding the CBD industry, especially at a time when CBD-infused products are flooding the marketplace? What the 2018 Farm Bill did NOT do was change the Food and Drug Administration’s (the “FDA”) authority to regulate any products containing CBD that are sold as food additives, topicals, drugs or dietary supplements in accordance with the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. As a result, the FDA has since made it clear that it is currently unlawful to introduce food or supplements products into interstate commerce that contain CBD, without first going through the FDA’s approval process.

So you must be wondering why the FDA has taken this position, given the intent of Congress with the passing of the 2018 Farm Bill. … Keep reading


On Monday, New Jersey legislators voted in favor of a measure that would both legalize marijuana and expunge past marijuana convictions. Many industry stakeholders were relieved last week, when Gov. Phil Murphy and Assembly leaders announced that they had reached an agreement on the proposed bill following months of intense negotiations.

Approved by the Assembly Appropriations Committee and the Senate Judiciary Committee, the bill is expected to be put on the floor for a final vote next week on March 25. If passed, the Garden State will become the 11th state to legalize adult-use cannabis. Broadly, the measure legalizes the possession, use and purchase of marijuana and establishes a proto- regulatory regime not unlike what we have seen in Massachusetts. It calls for the establishment a five-member commission “to oversee the development, regulation and enforcement of activities associated with the personal use of cannabis,” according to the NJ Assembly Democrats.

The bill, among other things:

  • Permits municipalities to collect up to a 3% tax from cannabis retailers in their jurisdiction, 2% from growers and processors and 1% from wholesalers;
  • Provides for conditional licensing which would allow time for potential license holders to obtain financing;
  • Enshrines the right of
… Keep reading
The 2018 Farm Bill and CBD


The $867 billion 2018 Farm Bill was signed into law by the President on December 20th, 2018.
The reconciled farm bill mainly just reauthorized many expenditures in the prior 2014 Farm Bill. However, it put an end to five decades of hemp prohibition. Hemp was afforded limited legal protections in 2014, when Congress passed a farm bill that authorized states to develop pilot programs for its research. The 2014 Farm Bill eventually gave rise to a patchwork of state regulations regarding hemp and hemp-derived CBD. While the bill did include legislation that impacts traditional U.S. farmers, the portion of the bill that stands to have the most impact is the part that focuses on hemp.

The 2018 Farm Bill, among other things:

  • Removed hemp’s low amounts of THC from the Controlled Substances Act;
  • Allows the U.S. Department of Agriculture to regulate the crop like any other agricultural commodity;
  • Permits hemp products – like CBD – to be introduced into interstate commerce.
  • Allows hemp production in all 50 states for any use, including flower production and CBD or other cannabinoid extraction;
  • Allows interstate commerce for hemp and hemp-derived CBD

However, this updated guidance was interpreted and misinterpreted throughout the hemp … Keep reading


Given the United States’ current political climate, bi-partisan unity has become a seemingly rare occurrence, especially in the country’s highest court. That’s what makes the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Timbs v. Indiana all the more special, especially in light of the civil rights subject matter in question. The February 20, 2019 unanimous ruling confirmed that the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition on excessive fines applied to the several states (by way of the Fourteenth Amendment), specifically with respect to state and local government asset forfeiture laws. However, despite this ruling, asset forfeiture laws still stand as uniquely effective enforcement tools that the county’s federal, state, and local law enforcement officials have at their disposal, posing a threat to the recreational cannabis market.

Generally speaking, asset forfeiture is a process by which law enforcement officials take possession of certain assets that they have deemed to be involved in criminal activity and will only be obligated to return such assets to their former owner upon a court ruling to the contrary. The person or entity from which the property was seized need not be convicted, or even charged with, a criminal offense. As a civil case, the burden of proof in civil … Keep reading