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On October 7, 2023, Governor Gavin Newsom signed SB 700 into law, amending the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA). SB 700, effective January 1, 2024, expressly prohibits employers from requesting information from job applicants relating to their prior cannabis use.Continue Reading High Protections on Information Relating to Employees’ Cannabis Use

Last summer, the Washington D.C. Council unanimously passed a bill that prohibits employers from refusing to hire, terminating, suspending, failing to promote, demote, or otherwise penalizing any employee who uses marijuana, even if they fail a drug test. In October 2022, the bill, referred to as the D.C. Marijuana Protections Amendment Act of 2022, was signed by Mayor Bowser. The law goes into effect on or after July 13, 2023.[1] Continue Reading On the Horizon: Broad Employment Protections for Marijuana Users in the District of Columbia

Acting in one fell swoop, on September 18, 2022, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed 10 cannabis-related legislative bills into law. These bills, which touch on issues that run the gamut of the cannabis industry, are intended to “strengthen California’s cannabis laws, expand the legal cannabis market and redress the harms of cannabis prohibition.” Senate Bill 1326 is the most widely recognized bill of the group, and authorizes the Governor the power to sign cannabis trade agreements with other states where cannabis is legal. Other bills address employment protection, labelling, use of cannabis in veterinary medicine and taxation. In his press release, Governor Newsom said: “For too many Californians, the promise of cannabis legalization remains out of reach. These measures build on the important strides our state has made toward this goal, but much work remains to build an equitable, safe and sustainable legal cannabis industry.”Continue Reading In One Day, California Governor Signs Into Law Ten Cannabis Bills, Including Authorization for Interstate Commerce

Virtually all California employers with five or more employees are covered by the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), the state’s most noteworthy civil rights law. FEHA protects and safeguards the right and opportunity of all persons to seek, obtain, and hold employment free from discrimination by establishing a comprehensive scheme to combat employment discrimination.Continue Reading California Expands FEHA to Include Off The Job Cannabis Use

Help for California’s fledgling cannabis industry finally appears to be on the way. For years, the industry has shouldered heavy taxes – a 15% state-wide excise tax, sales and use taxes up to 10.75%, and local business licenses taxes up to 15% in some jurisdictions. And, to top it off, California imposed a cultivation tax on cannabis flowers of $161.28 per dry-weight pound. While growers could sustain this tax burden when business was good, wholesale prices plummeted in the fall of 2021 and left growers unable to turn a profit.Continue Reading California Governor Signs into Law Cannabis Tax Relief Bill

Residents of California often complain about high taxes, but no one pays higher taxes than the cannabis industry.  In addition to the Federal 280E penalties, the cannabis industry in California is subject to a 15% state-wide excise tax, sales and use taxes that can reach up to 10.75%, and local business licenses taxes which are as high as 15% in some jurisdictions.  On top of these excise taxes, which combined can approach 40%, there is a state cultivation tax currently imposed on cannabis flowers at a rate of $161.28/dry-weight pound (and some local jurisdictions impose additional cultivation taxes).
Continue Reading California Cannabis Farmers May Finally Get Some Relief

For many in the cannabis industry, April 1, 2022 is seen as a day of reckoning following the July 2021 passage of Assembly Bill 141 and Senate Bill 160 (collectively, the Cannabis Trailer Bill).  In an attempt to transition to an annual licensure program, April 1st marked the beginning of the end for provisional cannabis licensure.  It also ushered in significant changes to renewal process for previously granted provisional licenses.  These modifications now require applicants to comply with the California Environmental Quality Act (Pub. Res. Code §§ 21000 et seq.) (CEQA), a complex statewide policy of environmental protection fraught with potential traps for those unversed in the law, before an operator is eligible to be awarded a cannabis state license.  This requirement alone carries the potential to create a much higher barrier to entrance into the cannabis market.
Continue Reading No April Fools: Starting April 1st, Cannabis Operators Face CEQA Compliance Requirements for State Licenses

Although Congress failed to pass federal legislation legalizing cannabis in 2021, the push to end the federal prohibition of the ever-growing industry continues to gain steam.  While Republican lawmakers have traditionally opposed decriminalization, more are beginning to support or even introduce new cannabis legislation.[1]  On top of that, recent polls indicate that an estimated 68% of Americans now support legalization[2] with many consumers now viewing cannabis as less dangerous than alcohol.[3]  In addition, the industry’s total addressable market has been forecasted to grow to $84B by 2026.[4]
Continue Reading Cannabis Legislation Year-in-Review

California’s comparable-to-organic “OCal” certification program for cannabis and nonmanufactured cannabis products officially went into effect on July 14, 2021.  The OCal program represents a new branch of state cannabis regulation, but remains firmly rooted in existing state and federal organics standards and procedures.  Its goal is to “assure consumers” that certified OCal products “meet a consistent standard comparable to standards met by products sold, labeled, or represented as organic.”
Continue Reading California Breaks New Ground With OCal: Answers to Key Questions About “Comparable-to-Organic” Cannabis

In January 2020, Illinois legalized the use of recreational marijuana through the Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act (“the Act”).  Two months later, many employees began working remotely because of the pandemic.  Today, work-from-home continues to blur the lines between “work” and “home” in countless ways, and employee drug policies are no exception.  The new world of remote work has left many employers wondering what to do with their drug policies now that cannabis is legal and their employees are remote or hybrid.  Can an employer lawfully prevent their employees from using cannabis while working from home?
Continue Reading What Do I Do With My Workplace Drug Policy Now That Cannabis Is Legal in Illinois and My Employees Are Remote?