Shay Gilmore Law

10/03/2026

📰 My article on the cannabis laws of California's 2026 legislative session is now out in the Daily Journal.

This year's bills affect almost every part of the supply chain. Here's a quick look:

📦 Packaging: New "attractive to children" standards begin Jan. 1, 2028, with new limits on cartoon and stylized fruit imagery on edible and v**e labels (AB 2249)

🥤 Beverages: Starting July 1, 2027, multi-serving cannabis beverages need serving lines, serving-size labels and a free measuring device at checkout (AB 2532)

🔬 Testing: Customers can ask a retailer for a product's certificate of analysis, and the state gets new tools for testing laboratories (AB 1965)

🌿 H**p: Updates to California's AB 8 h**p-cannabinoid rules, including a new exclusion for qualifying CBN isolate (AB 2250)

📅 Most of these changes take effect in 2027 or later. Businesses have time to plan, but packaging redesigns and new procedures take a while, so it's best to start early.

🔗 Read the full article here: https://www.dailyjournal.com/articles/394950-the-cannabis-laws-of-the-2026-california-legislative-session

Questions about how these laws affect your cannabis or h**p business? Send me a message or visit shaygilmorelaw.com.

**pLaw

10/02/2026

Thank you 🙏 Ani, Jonathan, and Jennifer for an awesome 🤩 panel discussion looking at tax and w**d 🪴 at my first-ever (not last!) tax lawyer 🧑‍💼 conference.

09/28/2026

🌿 What does a consolidating cannabis market mean for California businesses?

My new Chambers and Partners article examines the regulatory pressures, financial challenges, and business decisions reshaping the Western U.S. cannabis industry. I’m pleased to share a California perspective informed by my work with cannabis and h**p operators and investors.

Read the brief overview and find the full article on my blog:

https://shaygilmorelaw.com/california-cannabis-consolidation-chambers/

09/17/2026

California just signed its legal definition of "cannabis packaging attractive to children" — but the version that made it to the Governor's desk isn't the one operators have been preparing for.

The Senate stripped out the standardized rubric and the binding pre-clearance process on August 13. What's left is an advisory tool that expressly does not bind the Department of Cannabis Control in enforcement.

If you're a California cannabis operator or you advise one, here's what actually changed under AB 2249 — the eight statutory factors, the fruit carve-out, and the compliance gap the Legislature left behind, all effective January 1, 2028.

Full analysis:

California AB 2249 defines "attractive to children" for cannabis packaging effective January 1, 2028. A California cannabis lawyer explains what the Senate stripped out.

09/01/2026

The 2026 California cannabis session is over. Now the wait begins.

Governor Newsom has until September 30 to sign or veto every cannabis bill delivered from this session. Here's where things stand:

Signed → AB 2249, the new packaging law
On the desk → 7 bills, including one that could get vetoed (SB 1272)
Dead for the year → 4

I put together a working scorecard on the blog with every bill number, vote margin, and what each measure actually does. Link in comments.

Which one are you watching?

Link to blog post: https://shaygilmorelaw.com/the-view-from-newsoms-desk-the-cannabis-bills-of-2026/

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.