New York’s regulators have launched a campaign to educate adults about the “informed, responsible decision-making about cannabis” ahead of 4/20.
Office of Cannabis Management, or OCM announced its new efforts on Thursday. The office plans to promote an online library that will provide educational material about New York’s state marijuana laws.
Print and digital ads will feature a QR-code that will take people to an educational library. Regulators said they would target high traffic areas, transit hubs, and licensed marijuana retail stores.
In a recent press release, Felicia Reid (acting executive director at OCM) said: “As New York’s cannabis market grows, we must ensure that people can easily access the information needed to make informed and safer decisions.”
“The ‘Higher Education’ campaign is about empowering individuals with the facts—whether they’re brand new to cannabis or just unfamiliar with the laws,” she said. The public health landscape of a legal, modern cannabis industry looks something like this.
OCM announced that it will focus on safe cannabis consumption, including information and storage about the different kinds of marijuana products. It also plans to highlight cannabis labels, how to locate licensed retailers, public consumption laws, as well as where you can find them.
Lyla Hunt, deputy director of public health and education at OCM, said the campaign “isn’t just about cannabis—it’s about public health.”
We give people the tools they need to protect themselves, their families and communities. Having OCM educational materials widely helps ensure that our customers leave with more than a product—they leave with knowledge,” she said. We want to be there for you, whether you’re at a dispensary in transit or at a retail store.
In addition, the cannabis regulators in California and the labor department announced earlier this month the creation of a program to train workers on “comprehensive safety” for the legal marijuana sector.
Separately, OCM’s press secretary recently indicated the office is working on plans to expand permitting and licensing rules that could allow adults to buy and consume marijuana at movie theaters.
New York’s continued legalization of marijuana products would be enhanced by allowing the sale of cannabis in theaters.
Just a few days before, 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.
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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 allow financial institutions to do business 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. 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 shows that most Canadians believe marijuana is an important part of the economy and want government assistance for this industry.
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