Medical marijuana law is complicated because it is a highly regulated industry. There are numerous instances of naïve marijuana growers or dispensary owners who unknowingly run afoul of the laws and regulations and find themselves losing time, money or worse their freedom. Simple things that most businesses don’t have to worry about become complicated when it comes to marijuana law. Just obtaining a license can be difficult if you aren’t familiar with how to satisfy all the regulatory requirements. That is where a business law attorney from Self Legal Group comes in to help you achieve your company’s mission and protect your business from the complications that may arise if you are not working with a legal advisor.
What You Need to Know for Your Medical Marijuana Business
There are a lot of contract disputes in this industry. When cultivating, buying, selling, and using marijuana was illegal in Oklahoma, no one worried about contracts. A person’s reputation was all that was needed and if you dealt with the wrong person, you were simply out of luck.
Today, many marijuana businesses still operate that way and quickly learn that contracts are essential for doing business in this now-legal market. There are numerous cases where a grower delivered hundreds of pounds to an old buddy with a promise that they were going to get paid only to learn that their months of hard work simply disappeared. No money to buy supplies or pay workers is not a great business model for success.
Drafting a Written Contract
Contracts manage everyone’s expectations and are proof of what the parties agreed to. Yes, an oral contract is enforceable, but it is much more difficult to prove because people often have different interpretations of what was said and what was agreed to. While you can file a lawsuit to recover your losses as the result of a breached oral contract doing so is much more time-consuming, and difficult and greatly decreases your chance of success. In many of these cases, the money cost of legal fees far exceeds the cost to have an attorney draft a contract in the first place.
Experienced Attorneys Helping You Navigate the Regulatory Compliance Issues
At Self Legal Group we have attorneys who have experience with these regulatory compliance issues in the marijuana industry. We also have attorneys who have decades of experience negotiating, drafting, and litigating contracts. As the marijuana market adjusts from the early days of growth to this period of consolidation because of a flooded market more and more disputes among companies, partners and investors are going to rise.
Hopefully, you were prudent and have well-drafted contracts, policies, and procedures. If you don’t it is not too late. We can help you manage the risk inherent in this new industry.
Call us today for a consultation to find out how we can help you insulate your business from the growing turmoil in the Oklahoma medical marijuana industry.