Shay Gilmore Law

08/27/2026

California cannabis operators — the Department of Cannabis Control has calendared its biggest owner-disclosure and licensing rulemaking since MAUCRSA for Summer 2026.

Two 2024 statutes are driving it:

• SB 1064 authorizes combined cannabis activities at one licensed premises and bars redundant owner-information resubmission.

• AB 179 narrows Live Scan fingerprint requirements to 20%+ owners, CEOs, and nonprofit board members. Direction-and-control owners are now exempt.

DCC's proposed amendments will primarily land at 4 CCR §§ 15002 and 15003 among 15 affected regulations.

My new analysis predicts what DCC's proposed regulations will — and won't — include, and identifies four drafting moves every operator should prepare for now: two for every California cannabis licensee under AB 179, two for combined-activities applicants under SB 1064.

Full analysis on the blog:

DCC's Summer 2026 rulemaking implements SB 1064 and AB 179. What the § 15002 and § 15003 amendments will include.

08/16/2026

California landlords: your cannabis tenant's expired license could cost you $10,000 a day.

Under AB 1684 (effective January 1, 2024), California cities can hit landlords with administrative citations up to $10,000/day for unlicensed cannabis activity on the property — jointly with the tenant, no cure period, no knowledge requirement.

There's a safe harbor. But it's built in the lease, not at the hearing.

Full breakdown on our Cannabis & H**p Law Blog. Link in the comments. 👇

Own California commercial property? Tag a friend who should see this.

08/02/2026

🚨 The national intoxicating-h**p market is about to change. Are you ready? 🌿⏰

📜 In California: Three laws. One deadline. One legal off-ramp.

🌾 2018 — The Farm Bill (P.L. 115-334 § 10113) ✅
Federal law legalizes h**p — and accidentally creates the intoxicating-h**p market we know today. 🌿💨

🏛️ 2025 — Congress passes § 781 of P.L. 119-37 ⚠️
This new provision will shut down the federal intoxicating-h**p market when its effective date arrives. 🚪🔒

☀️ California's response — AB 8 🐻
The state already channels intoxicating h**p into its licensed cannabis retail system — giving operators a legal path forward. 🛣️✅

👇 In my new blog post, I break down:
✔️ How these three laws work together 🧩
✔️ What § 781 means for your business 📦
✔️ How AB 8 compliance actually works 🔍
✔️ The steps to take before the deadline hits 📆⏳

💼 If you sell, distribute, manufacture, or invest in intoxicating h**p in California — this is your roadmap. 🗺️

📖 Read the full post here 👉 https://shaygilmorelaw.com/intoxicating-h**p-deadline-california-ab8/

⚖️ Shay Aaron Gilmore | Cannabis & H**p Law Attorney | California 🌴
🌐 shaygilmorelaw.com

🌿 **pLaw 🍃 ☀️ 📜 🌾 ⚖️ **p 🚨 👨‍⚖️ 💼

When federal § 781 takes effect, intoxicating h**p becomes illegal. Does California AB 8 save your business? California h**p lawyer explains the off-ramp.

07/24/2026

🌿⚖️ California cannabis retailers — the A/M split rule is here, and it's more complicated than it looks ⚖️🌿

📅 On June 4, 2026, the DCC's emergency rule (DCC-2026-03-E) took effect. Two months in, retailers, lenders, and investors are working through what it actually means — and where the traps are hiding. 🕳️

🏪 ➕ 🏪 Here's the basics:
A California retailer holding one license with both the Adult-Use ("A") 🌿 and Medicinal ("M") 💊 designations can now hold each designation in a separate legal entity on the same premises. One shop, two licenses, two companies. 🏢🏢

🎯 Why retailers are pursuing it:
✅ § 280E tax relief on the M-side 💰 (post-federal-rescheduling)
✅ Cleaner DEA registration posture for the medicinal entity 📋
✅ Isolated Schedule III inventory tracking 📦
✅ Federal-side optionality as the rescheduling landscape evolves ⚡

⚠️ The trap most operators — and their lenders — are underestimating: 🪤

Section 15000.2(b)(4) makes both entities jointly and severally liable 🔗 for all obligations, debts, and violations incurred under either license. That has no analog in ordinary corporate law. Sister entities under a common parent are not usually liable for each other's debts — but this rule makes them liable by regulation. 📜

🏦 This flows through every part of the deal:
💳 Lenders need cross-collateralization and cross-default provisions
📄 Landlords need to understand who's actually on the hook
💼 Cap tables must mirror across both entities under § 15003
⏰ Owner changes on one side require matching filings within 14 days on the other
📊 CDTFA gains a state-regulatory argument that unpaid A-license tax is collectible against the M-entity 💸

⏱️ DCC acts within 5 business days on a clean submission.
📆 The rule expires December 2, 2026, unless made permanent — so anyone planning a split should move deliberately, with the drafting done right the first time. 🎯

📖 In my latest blog post, I walk through:
🔹 The full mechanics of the split
🔹 The § 280E and DEA registration drivers
🔹 The § 823(g)(1)(D) considerations for the M-entity
🔹 The joint-and-several liability trap and how to structure around it
🔹 The drafting checkpoints every retailer, lender, and investor should know

👇 Read it here: https://shaygilmorelaw.com/california-a-m-license-split-dcc-emergency-rule/

—

⚖️ Law Office of Shay Aaron Gilmore 🌿
California cannabis law | Business restructuring | Regulatory compliance
📞 shaygilmorelaw.com
📍 San Francisco, CA

⚖️ 🌿 💰 🏪 📋 👨‍⚖️ 🌱 ✅ 💼 📜 3️⃣ ⚡ 🌉 📍

California's June 4, 2026 emergency rule lets a dual-designated A and M retailer hold each license in a separate entity on the same premises.

07/13/2026

🌿⚖️ Here's the problem nobody warns California cannabis operators about: when the business is in distress, federal bankruptcy is NOT an option. 🚫🏛️

Cannabis is still federally illegal — so the bankruptcy courts are closed, even after the 2026 rescheduling news. 😳📉

So what actually happens when a licensed operator runs out of road? 🤔💸

Here's the state-law playbook 👇
🤝 Workouts — renegotiate with lenders
📉 Assignments for the benefit of creditors (ABCs)
🏛️ State-court receiverships

⚠️ And two things make cannabis totally different from any other distressed business:
🪪❌ The license can't just be sold to the highest bidder
💰📋 The tax collector gets paid FIRST

If you're an operator, lender, or investor in this space, understanding this now — before the distress hits — is everything. 🧠✅

📖 Full breakdown on the blog 👇
🔗 shaygilmorelaw.com

🌿 ☀️ 💚 📊 🏭 ⚖️ https://shaygilmorelaw.com/california-cannabis-restructuring-bankruptcy-out-of-reach/

Distressed California cannabis firms can't file federal bankruptcy—even after 2026 rescheduling. How workouts, ABCs, and receiverships work under state law.

07/03/2026

🚨🌿 Attention California h**p businesses: you could be watching the wrong deadline. 📅

Everyone has November 12, 2026 circled — the day the federal h**p ban (Public Law 119-37) turns most intoxicating h**p products into Schedule I controlled substances. 🔴❌

But if that ban forces you to lay off workers, your REAL legal deadline hits about 60 days earlier: ⏳ September 13, 2026. ⚠️

Why? 👇
📋 The WARN Act requires 60 days' written notice before a mass layoff.
🙅 And "the government banned my product" won't get you off the hook — the ban was signed a full year in advance, so it's not "unforeseeable." 📆
💸 Miss it and you owe back pay, benefits, and daily penalties.

📌 In California it's even stricter — Cal-WARN starts at just 75 employees. 🇺🇸

✅ The smart move? Treat this year as a planning window, not a countdown. Your layoffs, inventory, leases, and trademarks all key off the same date. 🗓️🌱

📖 Read the full breakdown on our Cannabis & H**p Law Blog 👉 [link]

⚖️ Questions about your business? Send us a message. 💬

**pBan

The federal h**p ban takes effect Nov. 12, 2026 — but WARN Act notice may be due Sept. 13. Why California h**p employers can't wait, and can't claim surprise.

07/03/2026

🏆✨ EXCITING NEWS ✨🏆

I've been ranked in the Chambers USA 2026 guide for Cannabis Law: Western United States — on my very first submission! 🌿⚖️

For those who don't know, Chambers and Partners is widely recognized as the most rigorous independent legal ranking in the world 🌎 — and their rankings are based almost entirely on confidential interviews with clients and professional peers. So this one really means something. 🙏

This recognition belongs to the incredible clients who trusted me with their most important legal matters 💼, and to the colleagues and peers who generously gave their time to speak on my behalf 🤝.

As a solo practitioner, building a practice from the ground up in one of the most complex and exciting industries in the country is filled with ups and downs 💪🌱 — getting ranked in Chambers is one of the ups for sure.

Thank you, thank you, thank you. 🙌🙌🙌

06/25/2026

⚖️💰 Who keeps the "$1.6 BILLION" in cannabis 280E relief — the operators who filed for it, or the U.S. Treasury? 🏛️

🚨 The April order changed LESS than you think. 🌿

Before any operator files an amended return, read this. 👇 It could save you an audit, a denial, and a clawback. 📉🔗
https://shaygilmorelaw.com/cannabis-280e-relief-1-6-billion/

Cannabis 280E relief examined: who keeps the disputed $1.6 billion in prior-year tax — large operators or the U.S. Treasury.

06/13/2026

🚨 NEW BLOG POST 🚨 ⚖️🌿

California ran 22,000+ h**p inspections 🔍 and violations dropped to almost nothing 📉 — a single violation across the first months of 2026. ✅

Sounds like the crackdown worked, right? 🤔

I don't buy it. 🙅‍♂️

Here's the catch: 👇 ABC only counts the doors it licenses. 🚪 A clean record there tells you how the LICENSED behave — not whether the trade still exists. 🕵️

The intoxicating h**p beverage 🍹 market didn't disappear. It just relocated to the channels nobody was inspecting. 🚚💨 And the state knows exactly where it went. 💰

That's why 2026 📅 dates really matter:

🔹 A new Civil Enforcement Unit built to hunt out-of-state online sellers 💻
🔹 Online marketplaces facing penalties up to $250,000 per violation 💸
🔹 ABC + the Department of Cannabis Control merging under one roof 🏛️ — closing the exact loophole this trade was built in 🔒
🔹 A federal redefinition of "h**p" 🇺🇸 landing this November that's fatal to most current inventory ⏳

Two doors closing on roughly the same schedule. 🚪🚪

If you hold a h**p beverage brand 🍾 — or have money in one 📈 — "Farm Bill legal" isn't a position anymore. It's an expiration date. ⏰

📖 I break down where the trade went, the enforcement apparatus being built to follow it, and the 3 paths forward before the window closes.

👉 Read the full analysis (link below)! 🔗

💬 Questions about your h**p or cannabis business? Let's talk. 📞

🌱 **pLaw 🌿 ☀️ 🍹 ✅

California's h**p beverage enforcement numbers look like a win. A clear-eyed look at where the trade moved—and the July 1, 2026 shift.

06/08/2026

Join me on June 11 for a look at regulatory compliance and tax for California cannabis operators, especially in the wake of the April 2026 rescheduling order. Co-presented by Taxation Section of the California Lawyers Association, New Lawyers Section of the California Lawyers Association, and California Lawyers Association Cannabis Practitioners Group, this program offers 1 hour of CLE credit for licensed California attorneys.