As a partner who leads the cannabis and hemp group at law firm Hodgson Russ LLP, Patrick Hines is often approached at cocktail parties with questions about all the cannabis shops popping up. There’s a widespread belief they must be legal or they’d be shut down. However, that’s not necessarily true, he says. Hines dives into this hot topic with Buffalo Business First Publisher John Tebeau, in the latest episode of the Thought Leaders in Law and Business podcast, presented by Hodgson Russ and The Business Journals.

“They don't want to put people in jail for cannabis, but they've got to be able to enforce the law,” Hines says. “Right now, the law says, if you're going to sell commercial cannabis to people, it needs to be regulated and you need to have a license. A lot of people are saying, ‘Well, I'm just going to do what I'm going to do.’ And that puts a lot of competition into the marketplace.”

Listen to this episode to learn about the legal issues businesses need to pay attention to if they’re interested in doing any kind of business in this space.

Learn more about Hodgson Russ at hodgsonruss.com.

This podcast does not provide legal advice.