What does it mean for the other marijuana businesses as NY awards 36 dispensaries with licenses?

Record ID: 1699974

  • Title: What does it mean for the other marijuana businesses as NY awards 36 dispensaries with licenses?
  • Date: 29th November 2022
  • Summary: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (RECENT - NOVEMBER 23, 2022) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) CANNABIS ATTORNEY, MICHAEL JAMES, SAYING: "The last time another dispensary went out and was at the forefront of the media, they were raided quickly after that. There's no coming back from that. I would shy away from publicizing an operation if you hope to obtain a license. I kno
  • Embargoed: 13th December 2022 16:52
  • Keywords: New York cannabis marijuana weed
  • Location: VARIOUS
  • City: VARIOUS
  • Country: US
  • Topics: Lawmaking,North America,Government/Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA009178323112022RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Thirty-six New York businesses were issued licenses to sell recreational marijuana last week.
    "It's a monumental moment for New York," said New York cannabis attorney, Michael James. "We have 36 licenses that will be on the forefront of selling cannabis legally, these dispensaries. The dispensaries that we see now are not actually licensed dispensaries. And so while we do have sales, they're not legal sales. The OCM (Office of Cannabis Management) has stated that at least one dispensary will be online this year. What they also will do is allow the awardees of the 36 and hopefully, more to come, they will allow them to start doing deliveries in the meantime while we wait for their retail locations to be finished, constructed, or secured."
    James said the general population can start applying for licenses to sell recreational marijuana by next summer, according to the Office of Cannabis Management.
    In the meantime, James suggested that New York businesses who engage in the practice of "gifting" marijuana, with the business selling a product, joining a membership, or suggesting a donation to a nonprofit organization and providing marijuana as a "gift" or sample in return, "should be careful."
    "The Office of Cannabis Management has come out and specifically stated that gifting of any kind or membership clubs of any kind... can lead to the result of a denial of a license," he said. "I would be careful. That's my advice to these operators. Be careful in operating at this moment because you do risk a lot in the long run."
    According to the OCM, the practice of "gifting" is illegal under the Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act (MRTA).
    "We've seen raids, we've seen seizures of trucks and products," James said. "I think we will see more of that in the coming months. In order to start selling, you have to have a license first. And what these dispensaries have done is they have started selling without the license. You can't do that. You don't start driving without a permit or a license. It's the same thing."
    "Unless they can get a license, which no one can get at this point unless you are a CAURD (Conditional Adult-Use Retail Dispensary) applicant and granted a license, then you have to wait," he continued.
    The Conditional Adult-Use Retail Dispensary license is directed to social equity entrepreneurs who have been convicted (or had a close family member convicted) of marijuana-related offenses and who have a background in owning and operating a small business. The state's first 100 to 200 marijuana retail licenses will be reserved for social equity applicants who can show they have experience running a business. The licenses will allow them to sell marijuana products from New York farmers, who have become the first suppliers of the new outlets. Under the rules published by the OCM, these applicants will be able to run a dispensary for four years under a conditional license, with a mandatory renewal after the first two years and an opportunity to convert to a full-fledged license once those become available.
    The policy, approved by the state's Cannabis Control Board, is intended to give people punished during prohibition the first chance to benefit from legalization of the drug, ahead of the U.S. corporations planning to capitalize on a valuable new retail market. Nearly a million people were arrested in New York over the last 20 years for marijuana offenses, according to the OCM. Almost 90% of those arrests were for lower-level offenses.
    In voting to legalize marijuana in March 2021, some lawmakers in the Democrat-controlled state legislature noted that laws banning the possession and sale of marijuana had disproportionately targeted Black and Latino users, even though white New Yorkers used marijuana at similar rates.
    New York is the largest U.S. state after California to legalize marijuana for adults over 21 years old. Twenty-one other states have legalized recreational marijuana, all in defiance of federal law, which still prohibits marijuana use.
    Many industry observers believe that New York will become the nation's cannabis capital in the coming years. By some estimates, the Empire State's regulated cannabis market could reach $4.2 billion by 2027, supporting over $10 billion in total economic impact and 76,000 jobs. And according to New York Governor Kathy Hochul's executive budget released in January, New York stands to generate more than $1.25 billion in cannabis tax revenue over the next six years.
    (Production: Douglas Higginbotham, Roselle Chen)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2022. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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