On December 14, 2022, the Office of Cannabis Management (“OCM”) published proposed regulations for the implementation of the Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act of New York in the state register. The proposed regulations originally put forth by the Cannabis Control Board (“CCB”) recommended the OCM file the proposed regulations on adult-use cannabis with the Department of State.
The proposed regulations identify specific authorizations, requirements, and prohibitions unique to the seven types of adult-use licenses – nursery, cultivator, processor, distribution, co-op, retail dispensary, and microbusiness licenses. The regulations continue to demonstrate New York State’s commitment to their Social Equity Program by giving qualifying applications a 50% reduction in their application fees. Additionally, the microbusiness license, as contemplated by the regulations, creates a vertically integrated license, allowing the license holder to cultivate, process, distribute, and retail sales within certain delineated limits. The regulations further allow the retail location for these microbusinesses to be separate from the cultivation and processing location.
As they stand, the regulations published by the OCM will allow New York to continue to expand its Adult-use Cannabis program. Under New York’s Administrative Procedure Act, these regulations are open for a 60-day public comment period set to expire on February 13, 2023 at 11:59pm. At the close of the comment period, the OCM is required to review public comments and, if significant changes are made, republish the regulations.
The proposed regulations can be found here.
Questions can be submitted to authors Harrison F. Kaufman and Siena Carnevale.