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Perhaps the Cannabis Growers Showcases won’t be relegated to the trash bin after all.
NYS Assemblywoman Donna Lupardo (D-Binghamton) told NY Cannabis Insider that, after speaking with the Office of Cannabis Management this week, she’s been told that the showcases will be allowed to continue as special events under new rules and regulations.
“My understanding is that the OCM wants to transform the Growers Showcases into something that would require a special event permit,” Lupardo said.
“Even though new stores are opening, there remain cannabis deserts in parts of the state,” she noted. “We are urging the OCM to expedite the rules needed to allow these new permits to be issued soon.”
Assemblywoman Donna Lupardo spoke at a cannabis association press conference in Albany on March 28, 2023. Lupardo has championed both hemp and legal cannabis-related bills in New York State for years.
Aaron Ghitelman, an OCM spokesperson, confirmed in a statement to NY Cannabis Insider late Monday that the agency was working to create a permanent event permit for the events.
But the agency did not spell out the details of such a system or when it might be rolled out.
Nearly two months ago, in testimony before the New York State Senate Subcommittee on Cannabis, OCM Executive Director Chris Alexander indicated he was trying to fast track a new program.
Asked by Sen. Jeremy Cooney (D-Rochester) whether OCM planned to extend the Cannabis Growers Showcases beyond the Dec. 31, 2023, deadline, Alexander said, “I’m trying to get that implemented as quickly as possible and in front of the board.”
But OCM, in its statement, seemed more concerned with the criticism leveled at it after it announced — to most stakeholders’ surprise — that it would not be extending the showcases beyond the Dec. 31 deadline.
“No positions have been reversed,” said Ghitelman. “The Growers Showcase was a vital, temporary tool to address a lack of available shelf space for cultivators at a time when dispensaries weren’t able to open up their doors for business due to the ongoing lawsuit’s injunction.”
“With over a dozen dispensaries across the state opening this month — with many more to come in 2024 — OCM will continue to prioritize store openings,” he said.
The decision not to extend the showcases and transition into something else was not warmly received by Cooney.
“I’ve heard from a number of growers and retailers that the Cannabis Growers Showcases are a helpful tool in the transition to the adult-use recreational program,” he said.
Sen. Jeremy Cooney speaks in front of members of the Cannabis Association of New York on Tuesday, March 28, 2023.
“I’m disappointed by the sunset of this program during the ongoing licensure process. I believe there is an opportunity to extend the showcases to regions without CAURD dispensaries or legal retail access. New Yorkers need more opportunities to purchase safe and legal cannabis, not less,” Cooney said.
Unless the showcases are continued in some way, shape or form, people in rural areas will be hurt, says Chris Kostyun, vice president of Misty Bleu Farm, based in Salem (Washington County).
“We have organized four Cannabis Growers Showcases and our brand, MB Farm Cannabis, has participated in several others,” Kostyun noted.
“I feel bad for consumers in communities like Schuylerville, Granville and Manlius, that will no longer have reliable local access to products, knowledge, and information; not to mention tax revenue.”
Moreover, “If there’s a hard stop for CGSs,” he said, “dispensary licensees will be starting in a cold market with no real world idea of what sells in a community currently covered by a CGS.”
In the more densely populated but still rural Hudson Valley, the uncertainty over if and when the showcases will return is a “major blow to the Mid-Hudson Valley cannabis community of farms, processors and consumers,” said Rick Weissman, founder and president of High Falls Canna NY, “as there are no plans for a dispensary to open within an hour of New Paltz, the site of the first and most successful CGS in New York State with over $1M in sales.”
In a statement on Wednesday, NYS Senator Michelle Hinchey told NY Cannabis Insider, “We’re hopeful that OCM will fast track the special permits needed to ensure CGS events can continue into the future.”