Category archives: February 2020

As we continue to await the Thai Food and Drug Administration (TFDA)’s promulgation of its medical cannabis application guidelines, the Thai Ministry of Public Health (TMoPH) has helpfully issued several notifications to further clarify the 2019 amendment to the Narcotics Act that initially paved the way for cannabis liberalization in the kingdom.

Switzerland also participates in European market surveillance and the European single market for medical devices through the EU-Switzerland Mutual Recognition Agreement (MRA, Chapter 4). Once the MDR enters into force, negotiations will be needed to update the MRA. Whether this process can be completed before MDR is effective remains to be seen. Failing a timely update of the MRA, Swiss manufacturers will have to comply with third country requirements as of May 2020 and take corresponding measures. For Swiss manufacturers of currently approved medical devices with a European conformity marking (CE), however, access to the EU market will remain guaranteed for the time being.

A new class-action lawsuit claims budtenders and other people who have worked in dispensaries may be overworked, underpaid, forced to work through lunch, paid in cannabis, not paid at all, or paid under the table. All of these practices are now huge risks that companies need to avoid. Entrepreneurs must be 100 percent compliant to move into the licensed marketplace.

In 1716, English playwright Christopher Bullock first inked the sentiment; Ben Franklin later paraphrased it; and to this day, over 300 years later, it still rings true: “Tis impossible to be sure of anything but Death and Taxes.”  But what happens when death is intertwined and arguably begot by taxes?

On January 21, 2020, as part of his 2021 Executive Budget, New York State Governor Cuomo released his proposed Cannabis Regulation and Taxation Act (CRTA)—his vision of a regulated cannabis market in New York State and second bite at the apple. In the 2019 New York State legislative session, which runs from January through June of each year, comprehensive cannabis legislation failed to garner enough support to pass as part of the budget or as standalone legislation. The current version of the bill includes more detail than the prior year’s, no doubt benefiting from a year’s worth of additional consideration and discussion among the Governor’s office and legislature. This year’s proposed legislation also reflects that New York’s time remaining on the sidelines of adult-use cannabis was well-used to learn from the challenges and shortcomings of other adult-use programs in the country.