As California revs up to legalize recreational marijuana use, several medical marijuana dispensaries and collectives are finding their product of choice getting wrapped up in revamped regulation, along with increased M&A work and investment deals.

Many cannabis sellers have not hired in-house counsel, and use only outside counsel to cut through the legal morass. But for at least one cannabis-related company, hiring a full-time chief legal officer was the best way to peer through the smoke.