Cannabis Law: A Primer on Federal and State Law Regarding Marijuana, Hemp, and CBD

For well over a decade, the cannabis industry has grown exponentially in scope and revenue. Industry participants range from giant food and beverage companies to e-commerce platforms, dispensaries, pet food companies, and growers. These companies are developing and marketing products that involve ＂cannabis＂ in all forms and derivatives, including THC, CBD, and hemp products, as well as other emerging cannabinoid products such as CBG. And as the industry has grown and diversified, so too has its legal needs.

Today, in addition to longstanding questions of federal legality and tension with state law, cannabis companies face a broad range of issues that require sophisticated legal guidance. For example, legal questions may involve anything from litigation and real estate to advertising and food and drug law. These questions are especially challenging given the breakneck pace with which cannabis policy and law has developed within a patchwork of federal, state, and local systems. Failure to navigate these concerns deftly and thoughtfully jeopardizes financial growth, not to mention business survival.

Until now, there has been no single reference to guide cannabis lawyers along the full continuum of potential legal needs challenging the industry. This treatise fills that gap from a sophisticated perspective by flagging key issues in more than a dozen practice areas and covering the impact of cannabis policy from federal and Canadian enforcement and regulatory agencies. By mapping these diverse concerns, this treatise helps provide useful guardrails for in-house and outside counsel alike.

Barak Cohen is chair of the Perkins Coie law firm’s Cannabis Industry Group, which he helped establish; co-chair of the firm’s Veterans’ Resource Group, which he also helped establish; Commercial Litigation Lead for the firm’s Washington, D.C., office; and a partner in the firm’s White Collar & Investigations practice. He is also a member of the policy council for the National Cannabis Industry Association (NCIA) and a vice-chair of the ABA’s Committee on Cannabis Law and Policy. Barak has significant experience representing companies in the cannabis, CBD, CBG, and hemp industries, including companies seeking to do business in the food and beverage industry, and with investment banks, financial payment processors, and dispensaries, among others. Barak identified the growth potential in the cannabis industry at an early stage and has been a go-to attorney for companies in the space. Barak is a former Army officer and prosecutor in the U.S. Department of Justice.Michael Bleicher is an associate in Perkins Coie’s commercial litigation group, where he focuses his practice on matters involving privacy, data security, and First Amendment issues for clients in the technology and communications industries. Additionally, Michael has experience advising established finance and investment banking companies involved in the can-nabis industry (including marijuana, CBD (cannabidiol), CBG (cannabig-erol), and hemp products and services) on entering the food and beverage market. Michael earned his BA from Brown University and JD from Harvard Law School.