Vince Sliwoski

Dear Pot Lawyer, Did the Democratic Party just endorse national legalization of weed? NO, BUT the party added “marijuana law reform” as a platform plank to be adopted this month. It’s a step. The two big US political parties tend to scrape together an agenda and revise their platforms in presidential election years. Bernie Sanders […]

Dear Pot Lawyer, I read that weed might be removed from Schedule I of the federal Controlled Substances Act (CSA). Is that bad for the Oregon scene? NOT IN MY OPINION, but people disagree. The argument is that if weed were moved to Schedule II or III, big pharma would roll in and crush the […]

I own a marijuana dispensary. Will I get in trouble if a customer does something stupid after visiting my shop? I DON’T THINK SO, but anything is possible. You may have been alarmed by the recent Colorado lawsuit where a man named Richard Kirk shot and killed his wife after consuming a cannabis edible. This […]

I keep reading articles about new states with weed programs. How is this still illegal federally? I KEEP READING about them too. Last month, Pennsylvania legalized medical marijuana. Last week, it was Louisiana. As of today, 25 states and Washington, DC, have legalized weed for medical use. That’s sort of more than half. By the […]

Will new cannabis laws create giant marijuana companies, like a Philip Morris or Anheuser-Busch of weed? Signs point to yes. The pot industry is in a curious place. On one hand, it is still a cottage industry. On the other, there are lots and lots of cottages, with legal sales projected to hit $6.7 billion […]

Dear Pot Lawyer, I lucked into a few thousand bucks. Can I invest in weed? YES, BUT probably not in the way you’re thinking. The general rule in this country is that only wealthy people get to invest in private companies. These “accredited investors” are allowed to invest under an exemption to the Securities and […]