CANNABIS CONVERSATIONS

QUIET GROWTH The journey toward cannabis growing, cultivation and retail proves to be a marathon, not a sprint

Since the legalization of adult-use cannabis was passed in New York State in March 2021, there have largely been more questions than answers when it comes to what that might look like here and around the state. Two of the people trying to answer those questions locally are Brian Batrowny and Damien Cornwell, the chair and vice chair respectively of the Southern Tier Cannabis Committee.

“We try to take the confusion out of it,” Cornwell said. “Even if we don’t know, we tell people ‘we don’t know and here’s why.’ ere’s nothing more frustrating than waiting for something to happen and you don’t even know why. ere’s so much chatter and noise in the room. So it’s to be that lighthouse, so to speak. To give straight answers to straight questions.” e Southern Tier Cannabis Committee represents Tompkins, Steuben, Schuyler, Chemung, Tioga, Broome, Chenango, Otsego and Delaware counties within the New York Cannabis Growers and Processors Association (NYCPGA). Its mission is to provide education and networking opportunities for business owners, bring together the Southern Tier cannabis community and stakeholders, and advocate and lobby for small- to mid-size operators.

About 50% of members are growers and processors, while the remaining 50% are split evenly between retail and sponsors/donors.

Currently, the state is busy working on regulations and granting licenses. us far 146 licenses have been granted in total, with the latest batch of 58 awarded on May 19. Applications for licenses are open until the end of June. e group held its rst event in Ithaca on May 23 at Northstar House, where people from all over the Southern Tier gathered to talk about their shared interest. is is what the cannabis industry should be all about, Batrowny said.

“We can’t do it without a large impact in a grassroots way,” he said. “[Cornwell] own’s a radio station, I have a huge farm. We’re part of the community. at’s the way to get into it.”

While licenses are still being granted, Batrowny said he anticipates Tompkins County will likely be a lot more grower heavy, rather than relying on retail.

“ is area will be really heavy on cultivation,” he said. “New York City probably as much, you’re not going to nd a lot of farmland.”

Cornwell echoed that, comparing it to census data.

“It’s all conjecture now, but if you have a dense population you’re going to see a lot of retail, and in rural places you’ll see more growers,” he said.

Batrowny said that’s supported by already existing farming infrastructure in the more rural areas of the Southern Tier.

Ithaca and Tompkins County will likely be a healthy mix of cultivation and retail, as city o cials have already expressed interest in bringing retail shops to town and the Commons, while the more rural areas of the county will be better for growing.

So far the interest has been high locally, with Batrowny said their events drawing full houses of business owners, press, policy makers and people just generally interested in learning more. Indeed, this was re ected at the May 23 meeting, where Acting Mayor Laura Lewis was in attendance, as well as people already working in the hemp industry and people looking to make a change from their current job.

“People are excited,” Batrowny said.

Cornwell quali ed that excitement, however, adding that not everyone trusts the new industry.

“People are nervous, too” Cornwell said. “I think it’s going to take conditioning to convert the illicit market. You got guys who make a lot of money, they have a big shoebox, so to speak. at’s why [Southern Tier Cannabis Committee] is so important. e only way is education, so people know there’s another way.” is touches on an important part of the legislation and licensing process. ere is a

By Tanner Harding

Allan Gandelman is the founder of New York Hemp Oil and Head & Heal and the founder and president of the New York Cannabis Processors and Growers Association. (Photo: Provided)

“justice involved” requirement for Conditional Adult Use Retail Dispensary regulations, which means that people have to either have a cannabis conviction on their record or have been a ected by a family member being convicted for a cannabis-related crime. e idea is that it allows people who have su ered from the criminalization of cannabis to now have the opportunity to bene t from its legalization.

“ e state wants to see success stories,” Cornwell said. “ ey want to see people who had a certain lifestyle with this convert it to become much more pro table.” ere were shadows of a similar goal written into the legislation in Massachusetts when the commonwealth legalized cannabis in 2017. Cornwell and Batrowny said they want to make sure that New York State is held to higher standards.

“We saw what happened in Massachusetts,” Batrowny said. “We know there was a lot of lip service paid to this but it didn’t come to fruition.”

Cornwell said they see their role as learning from those mistakes and trying to in uence better decision making.

As far as what’s going on locally — there’s still a lot up in the air. Freeville resident and Ithaca High School alum Luke Powers is the operations manager of Beak & Ski research, and said they’re planning to build a 13,000 square-foot beverage facility to make THC beverages in Lafayette.

“We’re going to extract THC, ll vapes, do a small line of gummies, and co-pack the THC beverages,” he said. eir THC brand is called Ayrloom, and Powers said the goal is for it to be as successful as quickly as their brand 1911 was. eir facility will be a processing plant, and Powers said he’s anticipating being granted one of the conditional THC processing licenses.

“It’s very special what the NYCPGA is doing,” Powers said. “I don’t think it’s been done anywhere else in the country. ey’re trying to really work to make sure the cannabis industry is going to work with New Yorkers, instead of out-of-state players coming in and taking all the large pro ts out of it. Growers, processors, retailers and tax revenue is staying in New York State. It’s a big deal.”

But while Powers and Beak & Ski have a pretty solid business plan ready to go, not everyone does. A handful of people who preferred to stay anonymous said they hoped to open a microbusiness, but didn’t have any exact plans. ey were still trying to learn about regulations and what might work best for them. Some of those people called themselves “legacy growers,” which basically means they had been illegally growing cannabis in their homes long before it became legal and were now looking to take their talents to market in some capacity.

As for what to expect in the city of Ithaca, nothing has been decided quite yet. e goal in 2021 was to prepare legislation at the city level that would t within state regulations. However, nothing has formally been adopted.

Deputy Director of Economic Development Tom Knipe has brought the issue to the Common Council in the past for feedback about recommendations on a cap on the total number of shops, appropriate locations, bu ers from places of worship and schoolgrounds, etc.

To Cornwell’s point about convincing people to participate legally and issues in Massachusetts, Knipe previously said that one of the criticisms of Massachusetts is that the sales tax is so high that it drives the price of state-controlled cannabis up, providing an incentive to the black market. e New York tax plan includes a 4% state sales tax and then municipalities can pass local sales tax, which Knipe cautioned against setting too high. ere has been subsequent discussion and interest expressed about the desire to get something on the books regarding cannabis retail speci cally, but so far this has not been done.

People have long been approaching Knipe and the city for the purpose of opening shops, but the licensing program is fully through the state. So far, the following Tompkins County businesses have received conditional cultivator licenses from the state: • En eld Glen Hopyard LLC • Mary L Strassheim • Ithaca Organics, LLC • Glass House Farms, LLC • Pine Rose 420 LLC

Some of these operators, such as Ithaca Organics and Pine Rose Farm, have already been growing and distributing CBD products. For others, like Glass House Farm, this seems to be a foray into a new business, as they currently mainly focus on di erent types of lettuce.

Conditional license holders can begin growing cannabis outdoors or in a greenhouse with up to 20 arti cial lights, and provisional license holders will have to apply for full licenses by June 1. Temporary licenses expire June 30, 2024.

Cannabis Control Board Chair Tremaine Wright predicted that cannabis grown by these operators will be available in conditionally licensed dispensaries by the fall.

Plants growing at Enfield Glen Hopfield. (Photo: Facebook)

A current product of Pine Rose hemp farm in Trumansburg. (Photo: Provided)

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“Do we have everyone vote and nd out their vote was meaningless and then the board gets to pick a candidate? at struck me as more anti-democratic,” she said.

She said she thought it was a better decision to be transparent with voters about Mumford-Zisk’s eligibility rather than keep it from them, and attributed some of the sign confusion to Mumford-Zisk’s misrepresentation of his intention to withdraw.

Reid also clari ed that the responsibility for con rming residency would fall to the board clerk, however, it is not the clerk’s responsibility to vet every candidate. When candidates submit their nomination petition, they sign an a rmation of eligibility, which includes a residency requirement of one year. e clerk takes them at their word and only investigates further if questions are brought to them.

Ithaca’s board clerk was only noti ed of Mumford-Zisk’s eligibility issues the night before the election, long a er the ballots were already printed.

However, the confusion about whether Mumford-Zisk withdrew or was ineligible was not the only signage issue. Several polling locations had signs up that told voters to vote for “up to three” candidates, when really, they should have said “up to four.” e district became aware of these signs shortly a er polls opened and called polling site managers to correct or remove them. Reid chalked the mistake up to a “clerical error,” and said the issue was resolved in two hours or less, which she doesn’t believe would have changed the outcome of the election.

“Secondarily, the ballot was correct and said to vote up to four,” she said. “ is election is being run by human beings, so there’s a margin of human error involved in that. ere was no intentional attempt to disenfranchise voters. It was a minor oversight that is unlikely to result in the election being set aside.”

And the last controversy from election day was a shortage of ballots at some polling locations. Board member Nicole LaFave said she knew that some folks were turned away when they showed up and found there were no ballots.

Board member Moira Lang said when she went to vote at Lehman Alternative Community School around 6 p.m. on election day, they told her they had at one point run out of ballots, but that everyone who was there when it happened returned to vote later. It is unclear how that information was veri ed by poll workers.

Lang also said the workers told her they got more ballots within 15 minutes of running out. Board president Rob Ainslie attributed this issue to a higher voter turnout than usual, likely because of the controversial budget.

LaFave said all of the above issues made her uncomfortable validating the election results. Reid told the board that she sees no reason the commissioner of the state’s Department of Education would overturn the election results or call for another vote, as she doesn’t think any of the aforementioned issues substantially a ected the outcome of the election. However, the ICSD Board of Education or a taxpayer who voted could bring a petition against the election if they so choose.

Ultimately, the board certi ed the election with all voting in favor, aside from LaFave who abstained.

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YOUR LETTERS

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only half as much compared to people who aren’t employed by ICSD. Plus, the ICSD elections should not take place on school grounds since that makes it more convenient for those employed by the district to vote compared to those who aren't employed by ICSD. — Richard Ballantyne, via Ithaca.com

Re: City to open ‘Reimagining’ investigation, Council members want to move forward

Shooting and robbery a weekly if not daily event now in Ithaca, and increasing. Yet the good people stick to the false notion that the POLICE represent a problem. Just keep voting the same way as you move further & further up the hills and into the woods, but we do admire your virtue signaling lawn sign. — Eddie Coyle, via Ithaca.com