New York’s governor has signed into law a pair companion bills that expand on the state’s farmers market marijuana program. The laws allow for expanded partnerships between licensed cannabis business and stand-alone “pop up” events.
Gov. Kathy Hochul gave the final approval of bills to Sen. Michelle Hinchey, (D), and Assemblymember Donna Lupardo, (D), on Thursday.
New York first authorized farmers markets in 2023. The goal was to help consumers gain access to cannabis products while traditional retailers are being approved, and to assist producers to bring their product directly to the market. Hochul, a separate legislator in December last year, signed legislation that would revive the program once it expired on January 20, 2024.
These newly passed measures are intended to expand the laws. They amend the statute to require licensed retailers to work with “minimums” of 1 cultivator and 1 processor to host showcase events. Previously, the law stated that only one partner was allowed for each licensing category.
The bills also state that they can sell any other product.
In addition, the law states that every retail licensee who participates in an event at a farmers’ market must be issued a permit when there are several retailers present. The legislation also states that each retail licensee participating in a farmers market event must receive a permit if there are multiple retailers operating at the same event.
These bills become effective 120 days following their adoption.
Farmers market events were originally approved to respond in part to New York’s slow implementation of its adult-use cannabis program. The New York law was repeatedly delayed due litigation. In spite of this, the industry in New York has slowly expanded. Officials in January announced that $1 billion had been sold since the launch.
Regulations say that the rise in approvals of licenses coincides with a crackdown by the authorities on the proliferation of unlicensed businesses in the month following the legalization.
—
MEDCAN24 has been tracking the hundreds of bills relating to cannabis, psychedelics or drug policies that have passed through state legislatures as well as Congress in this past year. Patreon members who pledge at least $25/month gain access to interactive maps, charts, and hearing schedules so that they do not miss anything.
Discover more about the marijuana bills tracker. Become a patron on Patreon and you will have access.
—
Meanwhile, state officials recently launched a grant program that will award up to $30,000 apiece to retail marijuana businesses to help cover startup costs.
Also, earlier this year, a collective of businesses licensed under the CAURD program called on Hochul to forgive tens of millions of dollars in high-cost loans issued under a governor-created social equity loan fund.
Assembly Majority leader Crystal PeoplesStokes(D) stated in December there is a need for financial assistance to CAURD licence holders. Many of them are struggling with high-cost loan.
Critics—including the NAACP New York State Conference, Black Cannabis Industry Association, Minority Cannabis Business Association, Service Disabled Veterans in Cannabis Association, Drug Policy Alliance, NYC NORML and VOCAL-NY—wrote to the governor earlier that month to express dismay at what they described as marijuana regulators’ “efforts in service of big corporations at the expense of small business and equity outcomes.”
The advocates said at the time that since the departure of the state’s first chief cannabis regulator, Chris Alexander, last may May, state officials had demonstrated a “shift toward corporate interests at the expense of small business, justice-involved entrepreneurs, and Conditional Adult-Use Retail Dispensary (CAURD) licensees who are directly impacted by prior marijuana arrest.”
Last month, regulators also launched a new resource meant to connect licensed marijuana businesses with banks that are willing to work with the industry, even as federal prohibition continues to pose barriers to financial services.
In 2023 the Governor signed legislation aimed at making it easier for financial institution to work with clients licensed to grow cannabis in state.
The law authorized OCM to provide financial institutions with information about marijuana business licensees or applicants, which is meant to ease compliance with reporting requirements. Licensees, and those who apply for licenses would have to first consent to the sharing of information.
A recent budget proposal from Hochul aims to empower police who claim to smell marijuana to force a driver to take a drug test—a plan that’s drawing pushback not just from reform advocates but also from the state’s Assembly majority leader and the governor-appointed head of OCM.
Meanwhile in New York, the state Senate earlier this month approved a bill to expand housing protections for registered medical marijuana patients, aiming to prevent evictions based solely on their lawful use of cannabis.
Senators this session have also introduced a bill for the 2025 session to broadly decriminalize drug possession.
Several psychedelics bills have also been filed in New York—including one calling for the legalization of certain entheogenic substances such as psilocybin and ibogaine for adults 21 and older.
The governor argued in June, meanwhile, that there’s a direct correlation between stepped-up enforcement and “dramatically” increased legal sales. A report by state officials last year found both “growing pains” and “successful efforts” in New York’s marijuana market launch.
A Poll finds that three out of four marijuana consumers say they trust products from licensed retailers to be free of contaminants.
California State Fair Photo.
MEDCAN24 could not exist without readers’ support. Consider a Patreon subscription if our marijuana advocacy journalism is what you use to keep informed.
