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Jeffrey Hoffman is a New York City-based attorney who hosts âAsk Me Anything about Cannabis Legalization in New Yorkâ each week on LinkedIn. Hoffman and NY Cannabis Insider have partnered to bring those sessions into print in a Q&A format.
Hoffmanâs practice focuses on cannabis industry clients, including licensees in the adult-use market, practitioners in the medical cannabis space, and cannabis adjacent product and service providers. He has a particular interest in social and economic equity cannabis license applicants, and he also informs and assists those convicted of cannabis offenses in getting such convictions expunged from their record. He can be reached at info@420jurist.com.
The following AMA from Oct. 11 and Oct. 18 has been combined and edited for length and clarity. Hoffmanâs next AMA is on Nov. 1 at 4:20 p.m.
How is New Yorkâs cannabis application period going?
So far so good. The application is open for the general licensing for five license types: retail dispensaries, cultivation, processing, distribution, and the micro. The process has mostly been smooth.
They had a few hiccups early on with some double billing which was quickly addressed, and there is some confusion about some of the requirements which OCM has done a reasonably good job of trying to address. OCM did put out a really solid set of documents, basically an overall FAQ and a set of one-pagers. The rubber will really meet the road once we get to the award process.
What NAICS code should I use for a retail dispensary?
For those of you unfamiliar with what a NAICS (pronounced like âsnakesâ) code is:
NAICS codes are updated every five years. In 2017, the NAICS code for a retail dispensary was 453998. In 2022, the NAICS code for a retail dispensary was updated to be 459991. However, Business Express, the website where one applies for cannabis licenses, is still using the 2017 codes. I tried 459991 and it wouldnât work, but it accepts 453998. Your mileage may vary.
What do you make of using census tracts for the CDI boundaries for the application?
The concept of Communities Disproportionately Impacted (CDI) is central to the application process. It didnât matter what geographic boundary criteria OCM picked, unfortunately there would be unintended outcomes. Iâve talked to a few folks who were certain they would meet the CDI element only to find out they are literally on the wrong side of a street to be in a CDI zone.
When do you estimate the OCM will get around to accepting applications for other licenses not included the latest application window?
Right now we are missing the cooperative license, the standalone on-site consumption license, the standalone nursery license, and the standalone delivery license. Also, this round there are only small indoor cultivation licenses available. I wouldnât expect anything more in â23 and probably not early â24. We in fact still need to go through the regulatory review process for the full on-site license.
We were told weed is able to be sold at farmerâs markets and fairs in New York – is that true?
Yes, there are things called Cannabis Grower Showcases here in New York. They are happening all over the state. I was at one on Staten Island and Iâm headed to one upstate in early November.
What is the process to get a municipality that opted-out of retail cannabis in New York to opt back in?
The municipality needs to pass a local law opting in to retail and then notify OCM via this form:
https://ocm-optout-form.ny.gov/dc/Forms/OCMOptOut
Do CAURDs have any shot of actually getting granted?
There are three pools of CAURDs. The first is a pool that have been granted full licenses and have opened their stores. Taking their licenses is 100% irreparable harm and everything will be done to avoid that.
Next is the biggest pool and that is the folks that have the preliminary license and havenât been able to open yet. A few of them got exemptions to open because they were all but done when the latest lawsuit was filed on August 7. For the folks in this pool that arenât as close, hopefully OCM is gonna submit proposed exceptions for the ones that are really close. I donât know that the judge is gonna go that far down the list of these folks.
And then the last pool is those that are still applicants. I think that what OCM is hoping is that a lot of CAURD preliminary licensees and applicants are going to apply and then get licenses through the application round that is currently open. And then it looks like the state is going to trial. Hopefully the legislature will address this in the new session.
With the new deadline for applications, will review of the applications also be postponed?
I donât think so. Nothing was getting done due to Thanksgiving and Christmas anyway. So this all goes down in Q1 â24.