California Looks Set on Raising the Cannabis Excise Tax, Negatively Impacting Licensed Market
Last week, the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration (CDTFA) reported cannabis tax revenue for the fourth quarter of 2024, showing $128 million in cannabis excise tax collected from cannabis businesses, and removing all doubt that the CDTFA will be required to raise the excise tax to as much as 19% as of July […]
California Legislators Submit Bills Addressing Vape Pens, Medical Shipments, and Low-Dose Hemp Drinks
Last week, just in time for the deadline to introduce legislation during the 2025 Legislative Session, California Assembly Members and California Senators introduced several bills addressing a number of cannabis and hemp law issues, including vape pens, medical shipments of cannabis to California patients, low-dose hemp drinks, and securing payment of workers’ compensation from licensed […]
Lawmakers Introduce Bills to Address Online Marketplaces, Unlicensed Activities, and Excise Tax
Ahead of next week’s deadline to introduce bills in this legislative session, California lawmakers have put forward cannabis law reform measures aimed at online marketplaces, at preventing a looming increase in the cannabis excise tax, and at streamlining the process for local agencies to obtain court judgments to collect fines and penalties assessed for unlicensed […]
Some California Cities See Retail Expansion While Most Jurisdictions Continue to Ban Retail Cannabis
Recently, several California cities have expanded, or have considered expanding, retail cannabis operations within their jurisdictional boundaries. For example, last month the City of Monterey welcomed its first cannabis dispensary, and the City of Woodland also saw the opening of the first dispensary in town. In the last few weeks, the City of Redondo Beach […]
Local Jurisdictions Start 2025 with New Cannabis Rules, Plans, and Retail
California cities and counties have started the new year with changes to their cannabis rules and plans, and an expansion of retail access. This month, the Monterey County Board of Supervisors approved a revised Cannabis Strategic Plan, while the Board of Supervisors of Tulare County unanimously passed an amendment to their cannabis ordinance to allow […]
Ninth Circuit Revives Property Owner Class Action Lawsuit Against Humboldt County
In a momentum-shifting decision, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has revived a landowner class action lawsuit challenging Humboldt County’s cannabis abatement program. This week in Thomas v. Cnty. of Humboldt, Cal., No. 23-15847 (9th Cir. Dec. 30, 2024), the Ninth Circuit reversed a district court’s 2023 dismissal of a class […]
California Cannabis Excise Tax Increase Looming for Next Fiscal Year
The cannabis tax reform measures contained in AB 195 (2022) may have eliminated the state’s cultivation tax a couple of years ago, but California’s government looks set on a course to recoup that lost cultivation tax revenue through an increase in the state’s excise tax starting in July 2025. This month, the California Legislative Analyst’s […]
Beverly Hills Bar Association to Host Shay for December 18 Webinar
Join Shay on December 18 at 10 a.m. (PT) for an online webinar presentation looking at the cannabis laws signed by Governor Newsom in the 2024 California Legislative Session. From the “cannabis cafe” bill to new advertising prohibitions for hemp, Shay will provide a deep dive into the laws that will shape the cannabis and […]
The Cannabis Laws of the 2024 California Legislative Session
As we look forward to the beginning of a new session of the California Legislature in 2025, here is a look back at the California cannabis laws enacted in 2024 in an article I just published in the Los Angeles / San Francisco Daily Journal.
Cannabis Arrests Again Surpassed 200,000 in 2023, Concentrated in U.S. South & Midwest
For the second year in a row, the FBI has reported that law enforcement made over two-hundred-thousand (200,000) arrests in the United States related to cannabis. Of those charged with violating marijuana laws in 2023, eighty-four percent (84%) were charged with possession only, and the FBI reported that in 2023 nearly twenty-five (25%) percent of […]
