New york

SB85

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Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) said that the first cannabis storefront, which will be located in Manhattan, will start serving adult consumers on December 29.

The dispensary will be 4,400 square feet in an “iconic building” at 1 Astor Place. Housing Works Cannabis Co “will welcome patrons with an introductory shopping experience upon opening, with plans to carefully build out an expanded and thoughtfully curated space as cannabis products become more available,” the press release says.


New York's First Recreational Marijuana Shop Will Open Next Week, Governor Announces - Marijuana Moment
 
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SB85

Well-Known Member
A federal judge denied motions to drop an injunction that bars New York from issuing conditional dispensary licenses in five regions, extending uncertainty surrounding the program in particular, and state cannabis markets in general.

The Tuesday decision is the latest action in a lawsuit filed against the state by Variscite NY One, a Michigan company which alleges New York’s Conditional Adult-Use Retail Dispensary (CAURD) license requirements discriminate against out-of-state cannabis operators in violation of the federal legal theory called the Dormant Commerce Clause.

In his decision on the state’s motion to dismiss the case – or at least narrow the enjoinment to a smaller geographic area – U.S. District Judge Gary Sharpe wrote the state didn’t meet standards to reverse or mitigate any part of his November decision.

“Defendants’ arguments regarding irreparable harm to them, the relative lack of harm Variscite faces, and the public interest are … unpersuasive,” Sharpe wrote, and denied the Office of Cannabis Management’s motion for a stay of the November order.



Court strikes another major blow to New York’s cannabis rollout - syracuse.com
 

SB85

Well-Known Member
NY’s cannabis regulators sued again, this time by the big players


It’s the lawsuit many saw coming.

A coalition that includes some of New York’s medical cannabis companies is asking a judge to compel state regulators to open up licensing for all retail dispensary applicants immediately.

The complaint, provided yesterday to NY Cannabis Insider and filed today in Albany County Supreme Court, alleges unconstitutional overreach and policymaking, egregious abdication of duties, and actions that put New Yorkers’ health and safety at risk.


The OCM declined to comment on the litigation, which is common for defendants in a lawsuit.

The Coalition for Access to Regulated & Safe Cannabis describes itself as “an unincorporated trade association” composed of registered organizations, parties that planned to pursue a dispensary license when the application window first opened, and physicians whose practices have suffered due to the state’s “neglect” of its medical cannabis program.


As of publication, here’s what we know about the group:

It’s made up of at least four registered organizations, Acreage Holdings, PharmaCann, Green Thumb Industries, and Curaleaf, a company whose chairman recently warned of litigation over New York’s approach to social justice.

It also includes two hopeful dispensary owners, one in Brooklyn and another in California, as well as a medical cannabis practitioner in Westchester.


The group is represented by NYC law firm Feuerstein Kulick.

At its core, the coalition’s complaint argues that:

“Rather than perform the tasks required by the MRTA – which would promote a safe and regulated cannabis industry for medical patients and adult-use consumers alike – CCB and OCM have improperly assumed the role of the Legislature to impose their own policies over those of New York’s elected officials and, by extension, their constituents,” the suit alleges.



Exclusive: NY’s cannabis regulators sued again, this time by the big players (msn.com)
 

SB85

Well-Known Member
NYS Office of Cannabis Management

@nys_cannabis



UPDATE: The injunction has now been limited to one NYS region, the Finger Lakes, allowing New York to proceed with licenses for Western NY, Central NY, Mid-Hudson, and Brooklyn. We are excited to begin advancing licenses to these regions shortly.




NYS Office of Cannabis Management on Twitter: "UPDATE: The injunction has now been limited to one NYS region, the Finger Lakes, allowing New York to proceed with licenses for Western NY, Central NY, Mid-Hudson, and Brooklyn. We are excited to begin advancing licenses to these regions shortly." / Twitter
 

MATTYMATT726

Well-Known Member
Smoke shops are not happy right now. Funny, i can't wait to tell the people that went to the shops between last year and now that i can't help them anymore. Enjoy the $30 rez shake or the 30% taxes on top of the overpriced outdoor from here and outlr friends from CA. Let it RAIN......
 

SB85

Well-Known Member
Smoke shops are not happy right now. Funny, i can't wait to tell the people that went to the shops between last year and now that i can't help them anymore. Enjoy the $30 rez shake or the 30% taxes on top of the overpriced outdoor from here and outlr friends from CA. Let it RAIN......

That crackdown bill is rumored to something brutal.
 

MATTYMATT726

Well-Known Member
That crackdown bill is rumored to something brutal.
But they were illegally "gifting" as they call it. Facts are facts. Money and marijuana changed hands in an unlicensed buisness establishment without paying taxes or compliance with the testing rules. It was their choice no matter how many jedi word games they think they can play. No sympathies here.
 

SB85

Well-Known Member
But they were illegally "gifting" as they call it. Facts are facts. Money and marijuana changed hands in an unlicensed buisness establishment without paying taxes or compliance with the testing rules. It was their choice no matter how many jedi word games they think they can play. No sympathies here.
Those untested dangerous carts and flower being sold at stores on every damn corner
 

MATTYMATT726

Well-Known Member
Those untested dangerous carts and flower being sold at stores on every damn corner
I don't care either way. I just want the shops closed, NYS dispos opend so i can have ZERO grey areas on my groing so long as i stay in counts and weights. That's all. Than, once there are no legal threats to my growing, black market can do as they please with competition to the state.
 

FlowerPower88

Well-Known Member
I feel like the black market will always have the best weed. Maybe not as a whole if you averaged out the quality of legal vs. illegal, but tucked away there will always be some recluse that doesn’t want to conform or comply, that grows something beyond current comprehension. Just my opinion, you gotta look under rocks to find the gems.
 
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SB85

Well-Known Member
I feel like the lack market will always have the best weed. Maybe not as a whole if you averaged out the quality of legal vs. illegal, but tucked away there will always be some recluse that doesn’t want to conform or comply, that grows something beyond current comprehension. Just my opinion, you gotta look under rocks to find the gems.

The OG market will always produce better quality flower in my opinion. That mainstream shit is grown for the sake of quantity and chasing bull shit THC %. It's better to grow your own or support a local grower that's known for bringing that top quality flower. I've already seen these ex-hemp growers running around trying to define quality by some bull shit THC percent number.
 

SB85

Well-Known Member
New York’s Medical Cannabis Giants Want in On Adult Use Now. A MRTA Author Agrees.


The state’s cannabis regulators have given “justice-involved” licensees, called Conditional Adult Use Retail Dispensary license holders, or CAURDs, a head start in opening shops — before the well-capitalized existing medical cannabis operators, known as Registered Organizations (ROs) expand their footprint into the adult use market. However, the nine open shops face steep competition from the more than 1,500 unlicensed shops that have cropped up across the state. And now, some of the ROs, which are some of the highest-valued multi-state operators in the U.S., are suing the state’s cannabis regulators, in part arguing that the adult use law lets them in at the same time as anybody else.

Are the ROs right? One author of the Marihuana Regulation and Taxation Act (MRTA), the state’s adult use law, thinks so.

The law says that ROs should have access to the adult use market. So they should, period,” Assembly Majority Leader Crystal Peoples-Stokes told Cannabis Wire.

There is one line from MRTA that is repeatedly bolded and italicized throughout the lawsuit: “the initial adult-use cannabis retail dispensary license application period shall be opened for all applicants at the same time.”

And, indeed, Peoples-Stokes agrees that existing ROs should be let in “simultaneously” alongside CAURD licensees. Peoples-Stokes also wants ROs to help bridge cannabis access gaps.

“When ROs first opened their businesses, they did not put a lot of medical places in communities of color, or lower income communities. So, the idea is to get them operating, with quality products that are tested, in communities that don’t necessarily have them,” Peoples-Stokes told Cannabis Wire.



New York’s Medical Cannabis Giants Want in On Adult Use Now. A MRTA Author Agrees. (cannabiswire.com)
 

SB85

Well-Known Member
How New York plans to address illegal cannabis sales

Additional penalties and shutting down businesses will be used to crack down on illicit cannabis sales in New York under an agreement reached in the $229 billion state budget.

The spending plan, approved on Tuesday, included the provisions as the state's marketplace for legal cannabis businesses is trying to get off the ground.

Here's why lawmakers and Gov. Kathy Hochul acted, and what the new measures will do:



Why are New York officials addressing this issue?

New York's legal cannabis sector was supposed to take off in earnest this year, with businesses run by people who were once prosecuted under prior marijuana laws first in line for licenses.

Legal cannabis businesses have been limited in some areas amid lawsuits over the licensing procedure. But state officials have also been concerned with the rise of so-called "grey market" businesses that continue to sell cannabis and cannabis products without licenses.

Aside from not receiving any tax revenue from the businesses selling cannabis illegally, state regulators have also been concerned with the safety of marijuana products being sold at these businesses.



Will state officials investigate?

The state budget expanded the authority of the state Department of Taxation and Finance and regulators at the Office of Cannabis Management to inspect stores believed to be selling marijuana illegally. The agencies will be able to conduct administrative searches of unlicensed stores.

Searches cannot be conducted in private residences that are not being held out as businesses. The budget also expanded the definition of tax fraud to include the failure to collect taxes on cannabis sales.



What will the penalties be?

State officials will be able to issue new civil fines and potentially shut down businesses for selling cannabis illegally.

The Office of Cannabis Management will be able to seek a restraining order or injunction in court to prevent businesses from selling cannabis without a license.

State authorities will also be able to tell landlords that their commercial tenants are running unlicensed cannabis businesses. Landlords will have the authority to evict those stores for selling cannabis illegally. If landlords fail to act, state officials can also take action against the stores and fine the landlord.

Fines will range from $50,000 to $100,000 for selling cannabis illegally depending upon the number of violations.



Will there be new crimes created?

Selling cannabis without a license by a business a misdemeanor and expands the definition of tax fraud to encompass selling illegally. But the provisions largely rest on the enforcement of the civil penalties, including the fines and closing a business.

Democratic lawmakers in the state Senate and Assembly had wanted to thread a needle in addressing the issue: Not re-creating previous marijuana laws, but at the same time finding a way to have the legal industry grow.



How New York plans to address illegal marijuana sales (spectrumlocalnews.com)
 

SB85

Well-Known Member
New cannabis regulations, licenses and social equity plan approved by NY’s Cannabis Control Board


The first significant item on the agenda was approving 50 new Conditional Adult-Use Retail Dispensary licenses, bringing the total number of those dispensaries statewide to 215.

Forty-five of the CAURD licenses issued Thursday were awarded to applicants among the state’s four previously enjoined regions – Central NY, Western NY, Mid-Hudson and Brooklyn.


Axel Bernabe, OCM chief of staff, said at the meeting that the agency’s newest industry regulations address concerns around issues like medical cannabis companies (Registered Organizations, or ROs) entering the recreational market, as well as dispensary buffer zones.

Bernabe emphasized that the quicker the CCB approves the new rules, the sooner the agency can start general licensing.

“I think what you’ll see in these regulations is a fundamentally updated approach to how states deal with cannabis,” Bernabe said. “We’re excited by the fact that if we can get this done, we would be able to issue final regulations by Labor Day and open the licensing period in the fall.”


Bernabe said that details within the 336 pages of proposed regulations would allow New York’s 10 ROs to enter the state’s adult-use market after Dec. 29. Previous draft regulations didn’t allow ROs to enter for three years.

“There was a general consensus that we need more stores,” Bernabe said. “That would allow some of our brands – some of our upstate farmers – to access retail stores right away.”

Under the OCM’s latest proposal, ROs would be required to allot 50% of their shelf space to smaller brands in their adult-use shops, expanding opportunities for NY’s licensed growers, Bernabe said.


ROs entering the adult-use market would also have to pay $20 million in fees: $5 million upfront, another $5 million when they open their second adult-use retail outlet, and $10 million to be paid in installments tied to the company’s revenue. ROs have until 2033 to pay the full $20 million.


The updated rules also increase the amount of money an investor can make from a company without being considered a True Party of Interest.

Under the previous proposal, an investor would become a TPI if they made over $100,000 per year from the cannabis company; the new proposal ups that to $250,000.


There was also a slight alteration to buffer zones between dispensaries.

The new rules propose the same buffer zones – 1000 feet between dispensaries in dense areas and 2000 feet in more diffuse areas – but allow OCM to make acceptions on a case-by-case basis.


Other changes would allow CAURD licensees to host on-site consumption in a distinct area on premises – with OCM approval.

New cannabis regulations, licenses and social equity plan approved by NY’s Cannabis Control Board (msn.com)
 

SB85

Well-Known Member
NY Regulators Reach Settlement, Clearing Way for Pot Retail in Finger Lakes



Regulators in New York said Tuesday that the state had reached a settlement with a Michigan cannabis business, clearing the way for the Empire State’s regulated marijuana industry to be fully implemented, specifically including the Finger Lakes region.

The five-member panel of the New York Cannabis Control Board unanimously approved the decision to settle with the Michigan-based Variscite NY One, Inc., which sued the state last year after being denied a cannabis retail license.

The ensuing lawsuit resulted in a court-ordered injunction in November that precluded the state of New York from issuing licenses to several regions, including Brooklyn.

In March, the same federal judge lifted parts of the injunction, which enabled the state to award 99 new licenses, including to Brooklyn, Mid-Hudson and other regions where licenses had been temporarily banned. But the injunction remained in effect in the Finger Lakes, which is currently the only region in New York where licenses have not been allocated.

But the vote on Tuesday by the Cannabis Control Board could change that.

The lawsuit was filed last year by Kenneth Gay, the owner of Variscite who has been previously convicted of a pot-related offense in Michigan.


New York announced last year that the first round of cannabis retail licenses would be awarded to individuals previously convicted of a marijuana offense or a family member of someone who had.

But Gay’s application was denied because his conviction occurred in Michigan, and New York regulators require license-holders to have “significant” ties to the Empire State.

Tuesday’s decision by the Cannabis Control Board must now be approved by a federal judge. If it is, it would officially end the “court injunction preventing the state from granting [Conditional Adult-Use Retail Dispensary] licenses to businesses in the Finger Lakes region,” and “would also guarantee an adult-use license for the plaintiff once general licensing begins,” according to Syracuse.com.

“We felt that we had strong ground on this; however, it is impeding CAURD licensees in that region,” said Cannabis Control Board member Reuben McDaniel, as quoted by Syracuse.com. “I’m very pleased that we’re considering this today … not because I think that this lawsuit has any merit, but our CAURD licensees need to be in the Finger Lakes, as well, getting to work.”

The outlet noted that most of the “details of the settlement will remain confidential until it is filed and approved in court later this week.”

The adult-use cannabis market launched in New York late last year with the opening of a store in Manhattan’s East Village neighborhood.

Other shops followed in Manhattan, and in March, the first legal cannabis retailer opened in the borough of Queens. (It was also the first woman-owned dispensary in the state.)

After the federal judge lifted part of the injunction earlier this year, the Cannabis Control Board announced in April that it had “granted at least one [Conditional Adult-Use Retail Dispensary, or “CAURD”] provisional license in each region other than the Finger Lakes, which remains blocked by the injunction.”

The board explained at the time that the 99 new licenses it had awarded “included four for Western New York, one for Central New York, five for Mid-Hudson, and three for Brooklyn, marking the first provisional licenses to be issued in these regions following last week’s modification of a court injunction that had prevented the Board from issuing them.”

“We are proud of today’s approval of 99 CAURD provisional licenses, marking a vast expansion of the Seeding Opportunity Initiative as we continue to build an equitable market that offsets harms caused by cannabis prohibition and its disproportionate enforcement,” Tremaine Wright, the chair of the Cannabis Control Board, said in a statement at the time.


NY Regulators Reach Settlement, Clearing Way for Pot Retail in Finger Lakes | High Times
 

SB85

Well-Known Member
Governor Hochul announces interagency crackdown on unlicensed cannabis businesses



Governor Kathy Hochul announced the start of the state interagency enforcement Thursday morning.

While the first product seizures happened in New York City, Hochul said these actions will be replicated across the state to stop the sale of untested cannabis. The enforcement is the result of legislation signed into law in the FY24 state budget.


"New York is proud to have undertaken the most equitable legal cannabis roll-out in the nation and the state will not stand idle as unlicensed operators break the law and sell untested products to underage New Yorkers," Governor Hochul said. "These enforcement actions are critical steps to protect and help those individuals who were promised a shot to start a legal business and be successful. Additionally, these unlicensed operators undermine the State's efforts to generate substantial funds for a social equity fund that will go into the communities that have been hardest hit by over-prosecution of the cannabis laws in the past."

Under the new legislation, unlicensed cannabis businesses could face civil penalties, including fines of up to $20,000 per day. The law makes it a crime to sell cannabis and cannabis products without a license.

The Department of Taxation and Finance can also conduct regular inspections of cannabis businesses to ensure taxes and/or fines have been paid.


Governor Hochul announces interagency crackdown on unlicensed cannabis businesses (msn.com)
 
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