Cannabis, Hemp & CBD

From licensing to litigation, regulatory compliance and government relations, GRSM lawyers seamlessly draw from our cross-disciplinary resources to address clients’ legal challenges. The scope of our services related to cannabis, CBD and hemp include:

• Cannabis related trial and appellate litigation – federal and state
• Risk management and lawsuit avoidance
• Licensing, regulations, permits and related appeals
• Warnings and product disclaimers
• Business formation and structuring
• Contract and partnership disputes
• Mergers & acquisitions
• Environmental
• Pesticide, herbicide and fungicide litigation
• Employment law
• Intellectual property
• Federal & state regulatory agencies (FDA, FTC, EPA)
• Governmental relations
• Domestic and international investment
• Land use
• Construction, land development and management
• Water use
• Finance
• Insolvency
• Taxation
• Insurance

Cannabis companies must contend with state and local laws, regulations and ordinances that are constantly added and refined. Litigation looms for many, with recent concerns arising around allegations of worker exploitation and unlicensed operations.

We help clients navigate regulations, obtain necessary permits and licenses, and mitigate threats of legal action from anti-cannabis interests.

The U.S. cannabis industry is experiencing a period of acquisition and consolidation. In Canada, larger cannabis corporations are going public to obtain capital and access to the world banking system.

No matter where clients are in the current cannabis maze, we guide them through challenges and opportunities in a safe and legal manner. GRSM attorneys have been active in the space since 2014. We emphasize education for clients on changing policies, especially for employers affected by the legalization of cannabis.

Our attorneys are leaders in the American Bar Association’s TIPS Cannabis Law Committee and the Defense Research Institute. We are members of national, state and local bar associations and have presented and lectured nationally. One of our group leaders co-authored the first-ever law review article analyzing environmental issues in cannabis. We are national authorities in this area and welcome the opportunity to counsel businesses, from Fortune 100 companies to plucky startups, on all things cannabis.

Hemp has been used by humans for thousands of years. From the stone age to the Roman Empire, hemp has been in widespread use. With European explorers conquering and settling the Americas, hemp spread beyond Europe, with evidence showing its use in the Andean region of South America in the 1500s and use in English settlements in North America during the 1600s. Hemp was also in widespread use by Native Americans and became an important crop in North America during Colonial times. Founding father George Washington even grew hemp on his farm for use in cloth, net, ropes and sails. Requisition forms for the nascent United States in 1797 show orders for 50 tons of hemp to be used on the warship USS Constitution. Hemp was grown throughout the United States during the 1800s, and the widespread use of hemp continued into the 1900s.

However, the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937, Pub. L. No. 75–238, 50 Stat. 551 largely ended hemp’s prosperity in the United States when all use of the cannabis sativa L plant was subjected to substantial taxes in an effort to discourage its use. But the passage of the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (2018 Farm Bill) removed hemp, defined therein as the plant cannabis sativa L. with a delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol concentration of not more than 0.3 percent on a dry weight basis, from the Controlled Substances Act, creating a significant opportunity for the industry to make a long-awaited comeback. If history is any indication, we expect the hemp industry to continue to grow exponentially.

Today, hemp is in numerous commercial and industrial products, from rope and bioplastics to textiles, food, cannabidiol (CBD), biofuel, and as a ‘mop crop’ for soil and water purification. But the continued Federal prohibition of “marihuana” puts hemp growers, refiners, manufacturers, and end users in a difficult predicament of navigating a complex set of laws and regulations at both the Federal and state level – many of which conflict and, in some cases, are even internally inconsistent.

GRSM helps companies make sense of these regulations, providing guidance on compliance and – in the many “gray” areas – best practices to limit liability. Our work includes representation on:

• Transporting hemp
• Risks of seizure
• Cultivating and selling hemp
• Labels, disclaimers and warnings
• Litigation and dispute resolution

GRSM keeps clients ahead of new statutes and rules issued by state and federal agencies, including the U.S. Food & Drug Administration and U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Languishing in public obscurity for most of its known existence, cannabidiol (CBD), one of the more than 113 compounds found in cannabis, has become commonplace. More recently, other compounds (such as CBG and CBH) have gained notoriety as their benefits have become known. But the regulations surrounding the use of CBD and other compounds can be as confusing as they are numerous. The use of CBD and other compounds in food products has become especially confusing, with the contemplated “rescheduling” of cannabis at the Federal level likely to make things even more confusing.

In addition to CBD’s complicated federal regulatory framework, businesses that sell, distribute or market CBD also need to confront a confusing patchwork of state and local laws affecting CBD. Some states prohibit any CBD sales, while others permit CBD as a food and dietary supplement. We deliver sound and clear advice when faced with multiple federal, state and local questions affecting CBD businesses.