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NEW YORK’S
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hile New York has faced many hurdles in its ongoing attempt to implement an adult-use pot program, real estate is an often overlooked obstacle, particularly in New York City. With rules in place requiring retail storefronts to be 500 feet away from schools and 200 feet clear of houses of worship, finding an eligible space is proving to be close to impossible for prospective Cannabis business owners. Making matters worse, the Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) has yet to announce all of the rules for retail pot shops. Still, the limited number of eligible storefronts and the expectation that New York’s adult-use market will come close to the $6 billion mark by 2030, according to New Frontier Data, has motivated many Cannabis business hopefuls in NYC to grab real estate now – without knowing all the rules and without even having a retail license. However, the state is attempting to make the licensing process easier for those who’ve been disproportionately impacted by pot prohibition. The OCM recently announced plans to award the first 100-200 retail licenses to people who have been convicted of a Cannabis crime or relatives of people with a pot-related conviction prior to marijuana becoming legal March 2021. The license priority is part of the state’s social equity program, which aims to level the playing field within the Cannabis industry. It’s also an innovative way to give those who have suffered due to the failed war on weed the first crack at the adult-use market. The OCM has yet to announce how many total retail licenses will be awarded.
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Despite delays and a lengthy regulatory process that seemed certain to push New York’s retail sales launch into 2023, Gov. Kathy Hochul appears to have come up with a viable plan that will allow sales of adult-use pot to begin this year. The recently approved Seeding Opportunity Initiative permits the state’s hemp farmers to apply for Cannabis cultivation licenses. Those farmers, working with qualified equity applicants – people with a marijuana-related conviction and experience running a small business – could bring retail weed to New York in a matter of months. The new initiative opens the application window in summer 2022, with the first licenses awarded by early fall. This timeline would allow for the state’s first adult-use sales by the end of the year. According to Gov. Hochul, “New York State is making history, launching a first-of-its-kind approach to the Cannabis industry that takes a major step forward in righting the wrongs of the past.”
GANJA GIFTING IN CONNECTICUT A
LEAFMAGAZINES.COM
s states in the Northeast attempt to implement new adult-use programs, they’ve also had to deal with the issue of gifting. Primarily due to the lengthy wait for the start of retail pot sales, impatient suppliers and consumers have consistently made use of gifting, where Cannabis is given away with an innocuous purchase or donation. Like New York and New Jersey before it, Connecticut is now dealing with gifting. But unlike those states, gifting in Connecticut has taken the form of large organized events, or bazaars. A new bill would outlaw such events, in an effort to preserve the state’s taxed and regulated market, which should debut this year. “This language was meant to get at these gifting bazaars that are marketplaces. People go in with the intention of really buying and selling Cannabis, but they do it under the auspices of a donation and they get some Cannabis in return,” Rep. Mike D’Agostino said. The proposal was met with protests from advocates, some of whom believe the bill would re-criminalize marijuana. However, lawmakers maintain that they simply want to stop large organized gifting events. According to D’Agostino, “We made absolutely clear this does not apply to what goes on in the privacy of your home. If it’s a family member giving to another family member, nobody’s policing that.” The outcry from advocates did make an impact with the legislature as the punishment for gifting was changed in the proposal. Committee members reduced gifting from a criminal penalty that carried a $10,000 fine and possible jail time to a civil penalty with a $2,500 fine and no jail time. As the bill heads to the House for a vote, Cannabis advocate Erin Doolittle felt there was no point in the legislature pursuing the matter. “It’s like trying to put toothpaste back in the tube. It’s here. It’s happening, and to think people are going to fully stop is a little naive. They’ll just go back underground,”she said.
Photo by 2H Media
APR. 2022
