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New York regulators on Thursday voted to grant conditional marijuana cultivation licenses to a number of hemp businesses as one of the first steps toward ensuring an adequate supply of cannabis when the state\u2019s adult-use market launches later this year.<\/p>\n
And separately, the Cannabis Control Board (CCB) approved revised regulations to allow medical marijuana patients to grow their own plants for personal use following a public comment period on initial rules that were proposed last year.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s been about a year since an adult-use legalization bill was enacted into law, and regulators have spent months preparing for implementation. At CCB\u2019s meeting on Thursday, members approved 52 conditional cultivation licenses. More than 150 applications had been submitted, and remaining applicants will continue to be reviewed on a rolling basis.<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\nVia CCB.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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<\/p>\nVia CCB.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) signed a bill from Assembly Majority Leader Crystal Peoples-Stokes (D) and Sen. Michelle Hinchey (D) to create conditional licenses in February. The intent is to allow existing hemp operators to get a head start on growing marijuana<\/a> to meet demand for the forthcoming industry.<\/p>\n \u201cNew York\u2019s farms have been the backbone of our state\u2019s economy since before the American Revolution, and now, New York\u2019s farms will be at the center of the most equitable cannabis industry in the nation,\u201d Hochul said in a press release<\/a> on Thursday. \u201cI\u2019m proud to announce the first adult-use cannabis cultivation licenses in the state, and I\u2019m proud of the work the Office of Cannabis Management and the Cannabis Control Board are doing to get adult-use cannabis sales up and running as fast as possible without compromising our mission to uplift communities and individuals most impacted by the past century of cannabis prohibition.\u201d<\/p>\n Conditional cultivator licensees needed to have been authorized by the state Department of Agriculture to grow hemp as of December 31, 2021\u2014and have grown the crop for two of the past four years. They\u2019re also required to \u201cparticipate in an environmental sustainability program and a social equity mentorship program.\u201d<\/p>\n BREAKING: The New York State Cannabis Control Board just approved the first 52 adult-use cannabis cultivation licenses for farms across the state.<\/p>\n The first cannabis product on dispensary shelves will come from NY’s hard-working family farmers, not out-of-state corporations.<\/p>\n \u2014 NYS Office of Cannabis Management (@nys_cannabis) April 14, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Meanwhile, regulators also advanced a rule last month to make it so people with prior marijuana convictions, or whose family members have been harmed by criminalization, will get the first round of adult-use marijuana retailer licenses<\/a>\u2014ahead of existing medical cannabis businesses. A recent poll found that\u00a0most New Yorkers voters are against that proposal<\/a>.<\/p>\n The licensing development is one part of what the Hochul administration is calling the \u201cSeeding Opportunity Initiative,\u201d which she also announced last month.<\/p>\n Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) Executive Director Chris Alexander said that he expects upwards of 200 \u201cjustice involved\u201d applicants to receive the priority licenses under the proposal, with retailers potentially coming online by the year\u2019s end.<\/p>\n Advocates are separately encouraged by the approval of a new revised rule<\/a> providing a home grow option for medical marijuana patients. After filing the initial regulations late last year<\/a>, the proposal was amended and is now generally more lax on restrictions.<\/p>\n In general, the rule would allow registered patients and caregivers to grow up to six plants, only three of which could be mature. They could possess up to five pounds of cannabis derived from those plants, which is consistent with the state\u2019s adult-use legalization law.<\/p>\n But with input from the public, regulators made certain changes in the latest iteration, initiating a new 45-day public comment period. For example, it now clarifies that plants can be grown outdoors, but they must still be enclosed and not visible to the public.<\/p>\n It also removes language requiring that patients and caregivers grow marijuana \u201cin a reasonable manner that prioritizes attempts at mitigating cannabis odor.\u201d<\/p>\n Another previous provision stipulating that patients should install and maintain security devices to prevent underage people from accessing the plants was removed.<\/p>\n With respect to caregivers, the new rule clarifies that they can grow for up to four patients and would be permitted to have a maximum of 12 plants for those patients at any one time.<\/p>\n Landlords would be able to refuse to lease to or penalize tenants \u201cif failing to do so would cause the landlord to lose a monetary or licensing related benefit under federal law or regulations\u201d under the newly proposed rule.<\/p>\n Finally, regulators also included provisions laying out rules for licensed businesses that sell marijuana plants or seeds for home grow purposes, including requirements for labeling such products to list strain names and potential potency.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, New York lawmakers recently sent a budget proposal to the governor\u2019s desk that includes provisions to let marijuana businesses take state tax deductions<\/a> that are available to other industries despite an ongoing federal ban on cannabis.<\/p>\n Sen. Jeremy Cooney (D)\u00a0filed a standalone bill in December<\/a> seeking a similar carve-out for the state\u2019s burgeoning cannabis market. Assemblymember Donna Lupardo (D) followed suit in her chamber. Cooney also filed a bill this week to allow regulators to disclose certain information about cannabis licensees<\/a> to financial institutions to promote marijuana banking.<\/p>\n \u2014 As it stands, adults 21 and older can\u00a0possess and publicly consume cannabis<\/a>, as well as gift marijuana to other adults as long as they aren\u2019t being compensated. But regulators are still finalizing licensing rules, and there are currently no retailers that are authorized to sell cannabis for adult use in the state.<\/p>\n Hochul has repeatedly emphasized her interest in\u00a0efficiently implementing the legalization law<\/a>.<\/p>\n The governor released a State of the State book in January that called for\u00a0the creation of a $200 million public-private fund<\/a>\u00a0to specifically help promote social equity in the state\u2019s burgeoning marijuana market. That funding, called the \u201cNew York Social Equity Cannabis Investment Program,\u201d is the last component of the Seeding Opportunity Initiative.<\/p>\n Hochul said that while cannabis business licenses have yet to be approved since legalization was signed into law last year, the market stands to generate billions of dollars, and it\u2019s important to \u201ccreate opportunities for all New Yorkers, particularly those from historically marginalized communities.\u201d<\/p>\n That proposal was\u00a0also cited in the governor\u2019s executive budget<\/a>, which was released in January. The budget also estimated that New York stands to generate more than $1.25 billion in marijuana tax revenue over the next six years.<\/p>\n Enacting legislation that expedites licensing could help the state reduce the number of businesses that are effectively using the legal \u201cgifting\u201d provision of the state\u2019s marijuana law to give away cannabis for \u201cfree\u201d if a non-marijuana-related purchase is made.<\/p>\n New York regulators recently\u00a0issued warnings to more than two dozen businesses<\/a>\u00a0that they allege are either illegally selling marijuana without a license or exploiting the \u201cgifting\u201d component.<\/p>\n Here are some other ways that New York lawmakers and regulators are working to build upon the legalization law as the state prepares to implement retail sales:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n In February, for example, a state senator filed a bill that would\u00a0promote recycling in the marijuana industry<\/a>\u00a0once retail sales officially launch.<\/p>\n Hinchey is also sponsoring that legislation, which would require cannabis shops to apply a $1 deposit for any marijuana products sold in single-use plastic containers and also reimburse consumers for that fee if they return the container.<\/p>\n The senator is also behind a separate bill filed last year that would\u00a0prioritize hemp-based packaging over synthetic plastics<\/a>\u00a0for marijuana products.<\/p>\n The recycling bill is\u00a0identical to an Assembly version filed<\/a>\u00a0by Assemblywoman Patricia Fahy (D) last year.<\/p>\n The state Department of Labor separately announced in recent guidance that New York employers are no longer allowed to\u00a0drug test most workers for marijuana<\/a>.<\/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 Another state legislator filed legislation in December to\u00a0legalize psilocybin mushrooms for medical purposes<\/a>\u00a0and establish facilities where the psychedelic could be grown and administered to patients.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, as New York prepares the launch of its adult-use marijuana market, OCM announced\u00a0a significant expansion of the existing medical cannabis program<\/a>.<\/p>\n Now doctors will be able to issue medical marijuana recommendations to people for any condition that they feel could be treated by cannabis, rather than rely on a list of specific eligible maladies.<\/p>\n Separately, the mayor of New York City says he\u2019s looking into the idea of authorizing marijuana to be grown in greenhouses on the rooftops of public housing buildings<\/a>\u2014an ambitious proposal that\u2019s unlikely to sit well with the federal government, which provides funding to support the NYC Housing Authority (NYCHA).<\/p>\n New Hampshire Senate Committee Approves Bill To Legalize Marijuana Home Grow In Historic First For The State<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Photo courtesy of Chris Wallis \/\/ Side Pocket Images.<\/em><\/p>\n The post New York Regulators Approve First Round Of Marijuana Cultivation Licenses And Revise Medical Cannabis Home Grow Rules<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
New York regulators on Thursday voted to grant conditional marijuana cultivation licenses to a number of hemp businesses as one of the first steps toward ensuring an adequate supply of cannabis when the state\u2019s adult-use market launches later this year. And separately, the Cannabis Control Board (CCB) approved revised regulationsContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":54271,"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\/54270"}],"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=54270"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54270\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":54272,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54270\/revisions\/54272"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/54271"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54270"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54270"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54270"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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