By Alicia J. Samolis OSHA has released its over 400-page rule for private employers with more than 100 employees to test their unvaccinated workers (click here for summary). The compliance date for the major part of the rule is January 4, 2022, with some other components effective December 5, 2021. The rule does not require...
The future of nearly two dozen pre-approved companies seeking medical cannabis dispensary licenses in five of Rhode Island’s six geographic zones will be decided on Friday, October 29. The license hopefuls submitted substantial applications to the state in December of last year, but the license lottery – originally expected to occur in the first quarter...
CannabisClient AlertsUnionization Efforts Underway at Local Dispensary and Cultivation Workplaces
October 21, 2021
Workers at Solar Therapeutics, a cannabis dispensary in Somerset, Massachusetts, voted last week to join the United Food and Commercial Workers (“UFCW”) union, after Solar Therapeutics’ management declined to voluntarily recognize the union. “I am so proud of my coworkers for sticking together,” said one Solar employee about the vote. “We love our jobs and...
Client AlertsNonprofitCharitable Registrations
October 10, 2021
As fundraising for nonprofit organizations increasingly becomes digitally based, entities should take steps to review regulatory requirements in all states. States regulate fundraising, whether conducted in person, online or through social media. Charities should review registrations requirements related to: Charities that fundraise Professionals or advisors that fundraise on behalf of charities Regulations pertaining to business...
CannabisClient AlertsMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Issues Two Decisions Favorable to Marijuana Businesses
October 5, 2021
Two recent unanimous decisions from the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court confirm the supremacy of the state’s marijuana laws over local zoning restrictions. The decisions also indicate a tendency of the Supreme Judicial Court to look to the state policy of legalizing the sale of marijuana when faced with restrictive local ordinances. Both cases involve the...
Client AlertsEmployment & LaborFederal COVID Action Plan Announced
September 10, 2021
By Alicia J. Samolis and Michael A. Gamboli On September 9th, the President announced a COVID-19 Action Plan (the “Plan”) and released two orders that contain surprisingly broad measures. The Plan will impact many businesses and organizations across the nation. Of particular note is: 1. Large Private Employer Testing Mandate. According to the announcement (no...
Client AlertsIRS Extends the Time Period for Holding TEFRA Hearings by Teleconference
September 1, 2021
By Eugene G. Bernardo II and David M. DiSegna On August 31, 2021, the IRS issued Revenue Procedure 2021-39, which allows issuers of tax-exempt private activity bonds to continue to hold TEFRA hearings via teleconference through March 31, 2022. Pursuant to § 147(f) of the Internal Revenue Code, tax-exempt qualified private activity bonds are subject...
CannabisClient AlertsBig Marijuana Comes to Rhode Island
August 30, 2021
Green Thumb Industries (“Green Thumb”) has announced that it has closed a deal to acquire one of only three existing medical cannabis dispensaries in Rhode Island, further expanding the Chicago-based company’s substantial footprint in the legal marijuana industry nationwide. Green Thumb is acquiring CanWell Processing and Mobley Pain Management and Wellness Center, each of which...
The federal Food & Drug Administration (“FDA”) has refused to consider an application by Charlotte’s Web Holdings, Inc. (“Charlotte’s Web”) for a CBD product to be sold as a dietary ingredient. Instead of clarifying the uncertain legal environment around of the sale of CBD products intended for human and animal ingestion, the FDA’s inaction maintains...
CannabisClient AlertsU.S. Supreme Court Justice Says Current Federal Cannabis Prohibition is “Contradictory and Unstable”
July 27, 2021
Last month, the U.S. Supreme Court denied review of a case out of Colorado dealing with a medical marijuana dispensary’s challenge to a tax code provision. After denying review, Justice Thomas—one of the Court’s most conservative members and one not known for offering unsolicited political or legal opinions—issued a statement indicating that, with an increasing...
