New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) on Wednesday announced her final two appointees to regulate the state\u2019s adult-use marijuana market\u2014a key step toward implementing the legalization law signed by her predecessor.<\/p>\n
Hochul named two additional Cannabis Control Board members weeks after the Senate confirmed previous appointees earlier this month<\/a>. The newly named regulators\u2014Reuben McDaniel III of the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York and Jessica Garc\u00eda of the UFCW labor union\u2014do not require confirmation by lawmakers.<\/p>\n \u201cNew York\u2019s cannabis industry has stalled for far too long\u2014I am making important appointments to set the Office of Cannabis Management up for success so they can hit the ground running,\u201d the governor said<\/a> in a press release. \u201cI am confident Mr. McDaniel and Ms. Garcia will serve the board with professionalism and experience as we lead our state forward in this new industry.\u201d<\/p>\n Hochul (D), who replaced former Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) last month after he resigned amid a sexual harassment scandal, has been supportive of the legislature\u2019s passage of the adult-use legalization bill this year. And while her predecessor faced criticism as negotiations with legislators on potential appointments stalled, Hochul has now taken the helm and is working with leaders on how to move the process forward<\/a>.<\/p>\n Under New York\u2019s legalization law, the independent Office of Cannabis Management within the New York State Liquor Authority was established and will be responsible for regulating the recreational cannabis market as well as the existing medical marijuana and hemp programs. It will be overseen by a five-member Cannabis Control Board.<\/p>\n Three members have now been appointed by the governor, and the Senate and Assembly have also appointed one member each.<\/p>\n As it stands, adults 21 and older can possess up to three ounces of cannabis or 24 grams of concentrates in New York\u2014and they can also\u00a0smoke marijuana in public anywhere tobacco can be smoked<\/a>\u2014but there aren\u2019t any shops open for business yet.<\/p>\n The first recreational marijuana retailers in New York may actually be located on Indian territory<\/a>, with one tribe officially opening applications for prospective licensees earlier this month.<\/p>\n In July, a New York senator filed a bill to\u00a0create a provisional marijuana licensing category<\/a>\u00a0so that farmers could begin cultivating and selling cannabis ahead of the formal rollout of the adult-use program. The bill has been referred to the Senate Rules Committee.<\/p>\n Because the implementation process has been drawn out, however, one GOP senator wants to give local jurisdictions another year to decide whether they will opt out of allowing marijuana businesses<\/a>\u00a0to operate in their area\u2014a proposal that advocates say is unnecessary and would create undue complications for the industry.<\/p>\n Under the law as enacted, municipalities must determine whether they will opt out of permitting marijuana retailers or social consumption sites by December 31, 2021. Sen. George Borrello (R) introduced legislation late last week that would push that deadline back one year.<\/p>\n Legalization activists aren\u2019t buying the argument, however.<\/p>\n Adding pressure to get the market up and running is the fact that regulators in neighboring New Jersey\u00a0recently released rules for its adult-use marijuana program<\/a>, which is being implemented after voters approved a legalization referendum last year.<\/p>\n The state comptroller recently projected that New York stands to eventually\u00a0generate $245 million in annual marijuana revenue<\/a>, which they say will help offset losses from declining tobacco sales<\/a>.<\/p>\n For the first year of cannabis sales, the state is expected to see just $20 million in tax and fee collections. That will be part of an estimated $26.7 billion in new revenues that New York is expected to generate in fiscal year 2021-2022 under a budget that the legislature passed in April.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, a New York lawmaker introduced a bill in June that would require the state to establish an institute to\u00a0research the therapeutic potential of psychedelics<\/a>.<\/p>\n USDA Wants To Help Hemp Farmers Weed Out Weeds (But Not The Marijuana Kind)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Photo courtesy of Max Pixel<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n The post New York Marijuana Regulatory Board Is Officially Completed With Governor\u2019s Final Appointments<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) on Wednesday announced her final two appointees to regulate the state\u2019s adult-use marijuana market\u2014a key step toward implementing the legalization law signed by her predecessor. Hochul named two additional Cannabis Control Board members weeks after the Senate confirmed previous appointees earlier this month. TheContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18,81],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50070"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/458"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50070"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50070\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":50071,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50070\/revisions\/50071"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50070"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50070"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50070"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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\nRead More: New York Marijuana Regulatory Board Is Officially Completed With Governor\u2019s Final Appointments<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"