Governor Gavin Newsome recently signed California Assembly Bill 45 (AB 45) into law, which, among other things, allows hemp-derived cannabidiol (CBD) to be included in any food, beverages, and dietary supplements sold in California. This is not only a break from California’s prior position prohibiting CBD from being included in such products even as the State began to tax and regulate its cannabis industry, but it is also in stark contrast with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) current position on the issue. Continue Reading California Passes CBD Law That Conflicts With FDA Guidance

The Troutman Pepper Tobacco Team will participate in the Food and Drug Law Institute’s Tobacco and Nicotine Products Regulation and Policy Conference.  The event is virtual and will be held October 27–29, 2021.

Join a diverse group of stakeholders – public health advocates, researchers, manufacturers, lawyers, consumer interest groups, entrepreneurs, governmental agencies, and others – for this three-day conference on effectively regulating the broad spectrum of tobacco and nicotine products in the US. Attendees will hear directly from FDA Center for Tobacco Products Director Mitch Zeller. The conference will also include numerous discussions of timely tobacco and nicotine product issues and feature interactive dialogues between the panelists and audience.

Troutman Partner Agustin Rodriguez will be moderating a panel on Technological Solutions to Preventing Youth Marketing and Access on Friday, October 29th,  at 1:00pm EST. 

We look forward to seeing our clients and friends virtually!

On October 5, 2021, the Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) published in the Federal Register its Final Rule on the content and format of reports intended to demonstrate the substantial equivalence of a tobacco product (“SE Reports”). The rule originally was displayed in January in the Federal Register, but was quickly retracted by the Biden Administration and did not publish. Continue Reading FDA (Re)Issues Final Rule on Substantial Equivalence

It is widely known that trafficking in controlled substances is a crime under federal law. Traffickers and would-be traffickers be warned, however, that if you do choose to make income from trafficking in Schedule I or II controlled substances (including cannabis, cocaine, or psychedelic mushrooms), that income is fully taxable by the U.S. government. And, if you have employees helping you produce and sell federal Schedule I or II controlled substances (as many state-legal cannabis businesses do), you owe federal employment taxes as well. Continue Reading IRS Launches Cannabis-Industry Focused Compliance Initiative

The term tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is most often associated with the delta-9 THC cannabinoid, which is one of over 100 cannabinoids found in both high-THC marijuana and low-THC hemp. Delta-9 THC is also the cannabinoid most often responsible for getting cannabis users “high” and is the cannabinoid that has been explicitly prohibited by the federal Controlled Substances Act (CSA). Continue Reading Delta-8’s 2018 Farm Bill Honeymoon May Be Slowly Coming to an End

On Wednesday, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court upheld a jury’s award of $10 million in punitive damages in a wrongful-death case against Philip Morris USA Inc. (“PM USA”), rejecting the tobacco company’s argument that such relief was precluded by the 1998 master settlement agreement between the Massachusetts Attorney General, PM USA, and other attorneys general and tobacco manufacturers.[1]

Continue Reading Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Affirms Punitive Damages Award Against Philip Morris USA Inc. In Spite of Master Settlement Agreement Release

Bryan Haynes of the Troutman Pepper Tobacco Team was recently interviewed for CSP’s Tobacco Regulatory Update.  The article discusses six regulatory issues at the federal, state and local levels that could impact tobacco retailers:

  • The impact of the Biden administration on tobacco laws and regulations
  • FDA’s progress in reviewing requests for marketing authorization for new tobacco products
  • The potential that tobacco retailers may be required to post in their stores “corrective statements” regarding the consequences of smoking
  • The ongoing litigation regarding FDA’s new graphic health warnings for cigarettes.
  • Potential flavor bans.
  • Potential excise tax increases.

Continue Reading Troutman Pepper Tobacco Team Interviewed for CSP Tobacco Regulatory Update

We previously wrote about a hemp industry case against the Texas Department of State Health Services, challenging the state legislature’s smokable hemp ban and the Department’s implementing regulations. Plaintiffs, Texas hemp producers and retailers, argued that H.B. 1325, which banned the in-state manufacture of smokable hemp, but not the possession, consumption, or importation of smokable hemp from other states, was unconstitutional because it was not rationally related to any legitimate government interest (smokable hemp could still be sold and consumed in the state, just not produced by Texas hemp businesses). Continue Reading Hemp Industry Victory in Texas: Court Finds Smokable Hemp Ban Unconstitutional

California’s cigarette tax and escrow requirements apply to inter-tribal sales of cigarettes, held the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit in Big Sandy Rancheria Enterprises v. Bonta. Big Sandy Rancheria Enterprises (“BSRE”), a federally-chartered corporation wholly-owned by the Big Sandy Rancheria Band of Western Mono Indians, brought the case to challenge California’s application of its tobacco directory, licensing, and tax laws to BSRE’s sales of native-manufactured cigarettes to other Indian tribes. Continue Reading Ninth Circuit Holds That Inter-Tribal Cigarette Sales Are Subject to State Tobacco Laws

Vermont Attorney General T.J. Donovan recently announced that his office settled violations of the state’s delivery sale law with three online electronic nicotine delivery system (ENDS) sellers. Since December 2020 and including these most recent settlements, the state has collected $472,500 from 13 companies for such violations, signaling the state’s growing desire to enforce this law against online ENDS sellers.

Continue Reading Vermont Settles with Online Retailers for Violations of Delivery Sale and Consumer Protection Laws