Regulatory

In a prior post, we discussed the federal anti-kickback statute (the “AKS”) and the implications for ketamine clinics. In short, the federal AKS prohibits anyone from paying or receiving anything of value for the referral of patients where a federal government healthcare payment program is the payor (e.g., Medicare, Medicaid, VA, etc.). 42 U.S.C. § […]

As the country moves toward decriminalizing and even legalizing marijuana, federal courts largely remain closed to commercial disputes involving marijuana by operation of the illegality defense.  We’ve written about the defense on several occasions, see here and here. Briefly, the illegality defense is an affirmative defense pleaded by a defendant who has been sued for

Last month we discussed the recent lawsuits brought by the Wrigley Company against five cannabis businesses it accuses of infringing its trademarks. Cointreau is now following Wrigley’s lead, suing the maker of Quatreau CBD-infused sparkling water. As we pointed out in our analysis of the Wrigley lawsuits, there is a fine line between legitimate trademark

Listen HERE or stream on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Stitcher, or Soundcloud! At Harris Bricken, we keep close tabs on what is happening in various industries around the world, including cannabis. In our weekly Global Law and Business podcast, hosted by international cannabis attorneys Fred Rocafort and Jonathan Bench, we look at the world by talking with business leaders, innovators, service providers, manufacturers,

Over the last few months, I’ve written a few posts about SB-519, a bill introduced by California State Senator Scott Wiener earlier this year that is intended to decriminalize a host of psychedelics – from psilocybin to ketamine to LSD (you can read those posts here, here, and here). SB-519 has passed through the California

Our posts here regularly cover celebrity-backed cannabis companies who are doing things right (and sometimes, doing things wrong), but a recent copyright infringement case proves that not all celebrities are interested in getting involved in the industry – and certainly shouldn’t be presumed to be okay with using their fame to promote it. Solar Therapeutics

We’ve been writing about psychedelics on this blog now for three years. I believe the first article I wrote covered Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of Compass Pathway’s drug trial for COMP360, a psilocybin formulation that eventually was patented. Since that time, a LOT has happened in the space, and we have seen all

On Wednesday, a draft bill was released to end America’s federal cannabis prohibition and remove “marijuana” from the Controlled Substances Act. The bill, sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), and Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) is titled the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act and was introduced as a discussion draft

This week, Governor Newsom took a major step in reforming California’s (pretty tortured) cannabis licensing program by signing into law Assembly Bill 141, which generally consolidates all cannabis licensing and oversight into the Department of Cannabis Control (“DCC”). In our view, centralizing all licensing and regulatory oversight into a single agency in California is a

On June 28, US sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson was suspended for one month by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) for using cannabis, effectively disqualifying her from competing in the Olympics. The suspension of a gold medal contending athlete caught many by surprise and sparked a worldwide debate about marijuana use by athletes should be addressed. Many