Last week, I presented oral argument to the Fifth District Court of Appeal in support of the people’s right of referendum. Long story short, the Kern County Board of Supervisors banned medical marijuana dispensaries in 2011, the people protested via referendum petition, and to this day the County has refused to comply with the
Succeeding in the cannabis industry is not easy, especially in California. Complex regulation, high taxes, expensive real estate, and competition with the black market are just a handful of factors that challenge cannabis businesses. The majority of players lack sufficient reserves and agility to stay in the game. Due to the substantial upfront costs required
As we have written about previously, we represent a property owner and retailer in an appeal against Kern County pending in the Fifth Appellate District (County of Kern v. Alta Sierra Holistic Exchange Service, Case No. F077887). The legal landscape for cannabis regulation in Kern County has been in flux since 2009, when
Recently, Governor Newsom signed 18 bills aimed to combat the housing crisis in California, including the Tenant Protection Act of 2019.
When I spoke at the California Association of Realtor’s Legal Affairs conference a couple of weeks ago, I was asked whether cannabis activity could be considered grounds for “just cause” eviction under the
On Thursday, the United States House of Representatives voted 267-165 to prohibit the United States Department of Justice from using appropriated funds to interfere with state-legal cannabis programs. The Rohrabacher-Farr Amendment (a.k.a. the Hinchey–Rohrabacher, Rohrabacher-Blumenauer, and Joyce Amendment) has provided similar protection to state-legal cannabis programs over the past
Kern County has a long and sordid history when it comes to regulating cannabis. There has been over a decade of allegations of corruption, bribery, arrests, and a plethora of lawsuits.
Long story short, in March of 2009, the County passed an ordinance that permitted medical marijuana dispensaries throughout the County
I cringe every time a form lease comes across my desk for a California cannabis tenant. While C.A.R. and A.I.R. lease forms certainly have their advantages (brokers and veteran landlords are comfortable with them, and they can be cheap and efficient if the transaction is simple), because of the complexity involved in leasing to cannabis
As expected (and as we’ve written about here), California cities have joined forces to fight the State’s regulation allowing delivery of cannabis in every jurisdiction. Here is a copy of the complaint.
The lawsuit was filed in Fresno County Superior Court against the California Bureau of Cannabis Control and its chief, Lori Ajax. The
We’ve written about the potential benefits of harnessing the power of blockchain technology to track and trace cannabis from seed to sale and provide an effective regulatory tool for governments (see here and here). We’ve also warned of the risks and dangers (and outright scams) associated with many cryptocurrencies and the heightened risks that
The United States Supreme Court issued a unanimous ruling on Wednesday in the case of Timbs v. Indiana, incorporating the Eighth Amendment’s Excessive Fines Clause against the states through the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. As we have written about, the case involves the forfeiture of petitioner’s Land Rover as punishment for