New York State’s cannabis regulators announced on Thursday the start of a program to train workers in New York State’s legal marijuana sector. The goal is “to provide comprehensive safety education for all employees”.
The state requires that employees who work for cannabis-licensed businesses in the state complete the Responsible Workforce Training Program no later than 30 days from their date of hire.
According to a release by the Office of Cannabis Management(OCM), officials and union representatives said that the new program would protect workers’ health and safety in the marijuana industries.
Stuart Appelbaum, President of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, stated in an OCM press release that “we can’t have a success cannabis industry without investment in its workforce.” New York has developed the country’s first Responsible Workforce Training and demonstrated the important role that cannabis workers have in ensuring consumer safety.
According to the release, the program was developed by OCM officials and state Department of Labor. It “promotes a culture of compliance and responsibility throughout the supply chain” and empowers workers through valuable information about product safety and labor standards.
Four components make up the Responsible Workforce Training Program: product safety, worker responsibility, licensing education, and implicit bias training or cultural competency.
OCM has made the first two videos available online for free. The Product Safety and Responsibility video lasts about one hour, whereas the separate video about workforce responsibility runs about forty minutes.
Workers must fill out a form verifying they have completed the course after watching online videos.
The licensee must also provide workers with at least 2 hours of education on “the specific activities that are specified in their license.” This can be achieved through both written and practical instruction.
The training must also include “a minimum of one hour” to address and identify unconscious biases.
The OCM released a statement that said “Cultural competence training is focused on understanding and respecting different cultural backgrounds in order to improve interaction.”
According to the New York State Office of Cannabis Regulation, together the training courses represent “a significant step in building a work force empowered with the necessary knowledge and skill set required to navigate through the complex New York cannabis market.”
Felicia A. B. Reid said that OCM’s interim executive director in a press release. In collaboration with DOL the Responsible Workforce training provides essential resources which not only promote workplace security but also ensure that the industry is responsible, transparent and in line with New York’s high standards for workforce protection and public safety.
Roberta Reardon, DOL commissioner said that it was “imperative” to protect workers and consumers while we cultivate cannabis safely.
Reardon, the program’s director, said that the training would ensure cannabis workers had the skills and knowledge to provide the quality service consumers expect across all economic sectors in New York State.
The press secretary for OCM recently stated that the office was working on expanding licensing and permitting rules to allow adult marijuana consumption and purchase in movie theaters.
New York would stand out as it builds on its legalization laws by authorizing the sale of cannabis products in theatres.
A few days earlier, Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) signed a pair of companion bills into law that are meant to expand New York’s marijuana farmers market program, allowing for more partnerships between licensed cannabis businesses and standalone “pop-up” events.
New York initially authorized cannabis farmers market events in 2023, aiming to expedite consumers access as traditional retailers were being approved and help producers bring their products directly to market. Last December, Hochul separately signed legislation to revive the program after it sunsetted in January 2024.
The farmers market events as originally authorized were largely responsive to the slow roll-out of New York’s adult-use marijuana program, which faced multiple delays in implementation amid litigation. But the state’s industry has gradually expanded, with officials in January touting $1 billion in total sales since the market launched.
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 Peoples-Stokes (D) said in December that there’s a need to extend financial aid to CAURD license holders, many of whom are struggling under the high-cost loans.
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 to help financial institutions work more easily with clients who are licensed by state authorities.
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. Applicants and licensees 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.
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Side Pocket Images. Image courtesy Chris Wallis.