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New York lawmakers will hold a fact-finding hearing next month to address the state’s troubled rollout of its legal cannabis industry, state Sen. Jeremy Cooney announced Thursday.
During the Oct. 30 hearing of the Senate Subcommittee on Cannabis, legislators will hear testimony from industry stakeholders, and question regulators about issues that have stymied New York’s legal marijuana launch, Cooney said. The hearing could inform future legislation.
“It is no secret that the state’s path to adult-use cannabis has been met with a number of challenges, most notably multiple lawsuits that call into question the program’s design to meet social equity goals – programs and goals that were incredibly important to the legislature when passing the MRTA two years ago,” Cooney said.
Cooney’s announcement comes amid a court injunction currently preventing the Office of Cannabis Management from issuing new Conditional Adult-Use Retail Dispensary licenses, or allowing most of more than 400 licensees to open their stores.
In that state Supreme Court case, Judge Kevin Bryant last month filed an order that said licensees who met all approvals before Aug. 7, 2023, would be allowed to open their stores. However, last week Bryant issued an order saying he won’t exempt any of the 30 CAURD licensees the OCM claimed met that standard, because the agency failed to comply with a court order.
On Wednesday, attorneys representing state regulators filed a new list of 12 dispensaries, which OCM says meet Bryant’s standard for exemption. Bryant hasn’t yet ruled on these exemption requests. Plaintiffs and defendants in that case will next meet for a hearing on Sept. 15.
While Cooney’s Thursday morning announcement fell well short of a proposal to right the ship in terms of New York’s legal weed rollout, it’s one of the few concrete steps lawmakers have taken to possibly increase legislative oversight over the OCM and the New York State Dormitory Authority (DASNY), which was put in charge of the state’s $200 million cannabis social equity fund.
Cooney told NY Cannabis Insider at the end of last year that he thought the state legislature should play a greater role in launching the industry, while other state and local politicians have criticized issues including the proliferation of unlicensed weed shops across the state.
“We’re going to need to provide real, concrete public policy solutions,” Cooney said Thursday. “It will send a message that New York is truly ready to open up adult-use cannabis in this state.”
The 11-member subcommittee consists of NYS Senators:
George M. Borrello (R)
Nathalia Fernandez (D)
Pam Helming (R)
Michelle Hinchey (D)
Liz Krueger (D)
John Mannion (D)
Mario R. Mattera (R)
Kevin S. Parker (D)
Jessica Ramos (D)
Gustavo Rivera (D)
Robert Rolison (R)