When it Comes to Drugs, the Government is Hands-On
When you run a business that deals in food, medicine, or recreational drugs, you’ll quickly notice something that sets your business apart from most: a whole lot of red tape. Businesses like yours are exposed to risks and demands that other businesses just don’t deal with because the government is very concerned with the consumers that want to eat, take, or smoke your product. Fortunately, a good attorney will go a long way towards simplifying your legal situation.
Government regulations: Uncle Sam cares what you put in your body
What we put in our bodies can drastically affect our lives. Healthy eating will extend our lives while eating poorly will make us unhealthy and even hasten our deaths. The case is only more extreme when we talk about medicines, which are literal lifesavers when they work – but have the potential for abuse, to say nothing of the dangerous sorts of medicines that are available in countries with little regulation. Then there are recreational drugs, some of which can cause serious harm.
So it makes sense that our government is pretty concerned about what kinds of things companies put on the market labeled as foods and medicines. Regardless of how the United States stacks up relative to other countries in food and drug regulation, it’s clear that food and drugs are among the most regulated products in the U.S. – you certainly have to jump through more hoops to acquire a prescription medication at the pharmacy that you do to buy a magazine from the rack next to the counter.
The result is a sea of regulations set forth by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and other government bodies. Some areas are more regulated than others – prescription drugs, for instance, are more tightly monitored than health supplements and natural health foods. Marijuana is closely regulated in the states in which it is legal: having so recently been entirely banned, it’s now limited by a laundry list of rules about where it can be grown, where it can be sold, how it can be advertised, where it can be used, and how much of it can be possessed at a time.
Regulatory red tape and your business
At least some of this regulation is good for the consumer – our food is a lot better now that it doesn’t have bits of rat in it – through some of the regulation of safe products may be a bit over the top. But regardless of how you feel about the government’s role, the fact is that running a business that deals with food, medicine, or recreational drugs can be very, very complicated.
That’s why business owners in these industries need to have a reliable team of attorneys in their corner. Starting a marijuana dispensary or farm can be hopelessly complex and legally fraught, but hiring a good cannabis business attorney can make the process infinitely easier. A good attorney will help you get licensed and stay on the right side of regulations.
With reliable legal help, staying on Uncle Sam’s good side is a whole lot easier. Despite the many regulations that come with the territory in businesses like these, it is possible to streamline your legal tasks and focus on the real goals of your business.
