Will you be able to buy legal marijuana at the 2023 New York State Fair?

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The New York State Fair bills itself as a showcase for the state’s agriculture sector and farm businesses.

But don’t expect the state’s newly legal marijuana growers to be able to sell their products on the fairgrounds, despite a new rule change meant to increase their sales opportunities.

The new state Cannabis Growers Showcase program was created last month to find additional outlets for cannabis growers by allowing weed to be sold at certain concerts, farm markets and similar events and venues. Aside from that, growers are only able to sell their products to the operators of the limited number of licensed marijuana dispensaries that are open.

No cannabis showcase has yet been authorized, although several are reportedly in the works and the state Office of Cannabis Management is taking applications.

But there won’t be one at the upcoming state fair because the fair is a “family focused” event, according to a spokesperson for Gov. Kathy Hochul.

“The guidance for a Cannabis Growers Showcase (CGS) forbids hosting at an event where the primary audience that is reasonably expected to view the showcase is an average age of 17 years old or younger,” according to an email from Jason Gough, the governor’s deputy communications director. “Since the State Fair is a family-focused event, it is ineligible to host a Cannabis Growers Showcase.”

The new regulations also say the showcases will not be allowed at events where the target audience is expected to be under 21, the legal age for buying cannabis.

The absence of legal marijuana may not mean there won’t be any cannabis products. For several years, vendors selling CBD and other hemp-based cannabinoid products have set up around the fairgrounds, though there were fewer last year than in the past.

The fair expects there to be some CBD vendors this year, said spokesperson Alice Maggiore. She did not yet have a list of vendors.

Recreational marijuana for adult use was legalized in New York state in April 2021. But the roll-out of legal dispensaries got off to a slow start, with the first opening in Manhattan last December. There are now 21 open across the state, including Flynnstoned in Syracuse’s Armory Square..

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Don Cazentre writes for NYup.com, syracuse.com and The Post-Standard. Reach him at dcazentre@nyup.com, or follow him at NYup.com, on Twitter or Facebook.