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Happy Saturday! We hope everyone’s keeping cool during this extreme heat wave. Let’s recap our coverage of New York’s cannabis marketplace from the past week.
Yesterday, NY Cannabis Insider Editor and Publisher Brad Racino broke the news that Columbia Care, a medical cannabis company in Rochester, was denied a waiver by the Office of Cannabis Management to allow virtual supervision after the company found itself with a shortage of pharmacists.
As a result, the dispensary is closed for nearly a week, affecting roughly 750 patients.
Reporter Sean Teehan found that the number of home growers is on the rise. Green-thumbed, home-based weed entrepreneurs can enter the industry without some of the regulatory hurdles and risks associated with plant-touching businesses — which is possibly why the concept of self cultivation is likely to continue its upward trajectory, Sean wrote.
In a different story, Mike Golden, co-founder and co-owner of the CAURD business The Higher Company, talked to Sean about the company’s plans for delivery, brick-and-mortar retail and a consumption space.
For years, Golden and partners have run the cannabis lifestyle brand The Higher Calling, which sells T-shirts, hats, and other merchandise with marijuana-related slogans. Now they’re officially entering the legal weed industry by launching a delivery service that will cover much of Central New York.
We also announced the topic and panelists for our upcoming industry meetup and networking event on August 15 at Madam Mikette’s in Manhattan.
Purchase tickets to network in NYC and hear from tribal members and attorneys about the state’s past and present relationship with Native American nations.
Panelists include Matthew Leonardo, an attorney with Hinman Straub who represents indigenous nations in his practice and who authored the current tribal bill; Thunder Anderson, a member of the St. Regis Mohawk tribe and manager of Famous A’s, a local cannabis business in Massena licensed through the Mohawk LongHouse Council; Joseph Bondy, Anderson’s attorney and an internationally recognized expert in criminal litigation who was named one of America’s Top 100 Attorneys and Top 100 Criminal Defense Lawyers; and Lance White, a Mohawk cannabis entrepreneur from the territory of Akwesasne who recently obtained a “first of its kind” Four Tier license from the tribal government, which allows cultivation, extraction, retail sales and consumption under one roof.
Get your tickets now! They will sell out.
Reporter Mel Hyman spoke with Seth Marks, who hopes to open the first retail cannabis dispensary in Rockland County. Marks said he’s heard from other would-be purveyors that going through the New York State Dormitory Authority’s $200 million low-interest loan program was like being a mouse on a treadmill.
This past Monday was the last day for entries in the second, and maybe final, round of public comments on the rules and regulations for New York State’s cannabis industry. Joe Rossi of Park Strategies wrote why the public should weigh in on these rules in his latest guest column.
Tax Attorney Paula Collins did what she does best and crunched the numbers to see when the state will reach its “sweet spot” in cannabis tax revenue projections in a new guest column. Collins lays out the math for what it’ll take for each year’s projected revenues to come to fruition.
Continuing our “NY’s women in cannabis” series, we ran a profile on Dr. Lynn Parodneck, who provides medical cannabis certification and patient care in New York and Connecticut.
We also added a new entry to our “People to know in NY cannabis” series:Hal McCabe — the mayor of Homer, NY, and the director of government relations for the Cannabis Association of New York.
There’s plenty more to come next week, so make sure to subscribe to receive access to our exclusive content and stay up to date on what’s happening day-to-day in NY cannabis.