Banking for the cannabis industry – which continues to be a thorn in the side of U.S. marijuana and hemp companies – will be reviewed by Will Patterson of Seattle, Washington-based law firm Harris Bricken at this year’s PDX HempFest Expo June 10 in Portland, Oregon, USA.
Patterson, who works out of the firm’s Portland office, specializes in intellectual property and cannabis law at Harris Bricken, whose services range over international law and trade, litigation, maritime, and regulated industries.
The banking industry in the USA has generally shied away from cannabis firms, many of which operate on a cash-only basis, and suffer the associated business headaches. Cliff Thomason, a former Oregon gubernatorial candidate who is on the seminar program in a separate session, has called for the creation of an Oregon state bank that would help the cannabis industry transition away from a cash-only model and into the broader banking system.
More about the cannabis business
General issues related to running a cannabis business are also on the PDX HempFest seminar lineup. Karen Sprague, of the consultancy Karen Sprague Essentials, will present “Marijuana & Hemp Business Practices.”
Sprague started and later sold The CO2 Company, one of the largest Co2 extraction operations in Oregon. She also developed and manufactured several natural health products including topicals, edibles, extracts, and strain-specific flower. A horticulturist, Sprague has researched high-CBD and THC cannabis, comparing relative effects on patients. She is also a hemp farmer.
Other speakers for the one-day PDX HempFext will cover a wide range of topics, including hemp construction, cosmetics, medicine, food, organic cultivation, and various legal aspects of the industry. Also on the program are an investors’ pitch deck forum and an Oregon State Advisory Rules Committee Q&A.
