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Happy weekend everyone!
We hope you’re keeping warm. Considering the frigid temperatures this weekend, it’s a perfect time to stay inside and check out the stories we ran in NY Cannabis Insider last week.
On Friday, we published an interview with Jeremy Rivera, owner and CEO of Terp Bros – Astoria’s first licensed adult-use dispensary. After being held up by a court injunction, Terp Bros was able to open for business Oct. 17. Today, Terp Bros employs 18 full-time workers and serves up to 400 customers per day.
Rivera, a Conditional Adult-Use Retail Dispensary licensee who also owns J&A Building Consultants in New York City, sat down with NY Cannabis Insider to talk about how business is going, and what the future holds for Terp Bros.
Colin Decker, owner and founder of Sensei Growth Consulting and 7 SEAZ — New York’s first legacy-to-legal adult-use cannabis brand — , contributed a guest column, which provides advice for how to establish a successful weed business in New York.
“After many issues arose statewide in the industry over the past year, I wanted to begin 2024 by conveying some suggestions and helpful information to those dreaming of, or taking the initial steps towards, legally selling ganja in the Big Apple, spinning fresh frozen for solventless rosin in a walk-in freezer, or indoor hermits cultivating a sea of green that will one day be smoked by consumers,” Decker wrote.
We reported on Gov. Kathy Hochul’s state budget proposal for the 2025 fiscal year, which includes a bill to repeal and replace New York’s potency-based tax system for cannabis – a move industry stakeholders have long said will simplify tax collection and burdens on small marijuana businesses.
If legislators pass Hochul’s proposed budget, distributors would instead pay a 9% excise tax, while retailers would continue paying sales and municipal taxes. NY Cannabis Insider spoke with industry stakeholders and a tax expert about how this change would affect cannabis businesses.
Reporter Mel Hyman contributed a story about cannabis zoning issues in Riverhead, and how they highlight broader problems for siting cannabis businesses on Long Island.
“After checking out nearly all the newly available parcels in town, members of the nonprofit advocacy group Long Island Cannabis Coalition told NY Cannabis Insider that only a few of the locations are viable because most property owners don’t want to sell to a prospective cannabis store, or they’re asking outrageous prices,” Hyman wrote.
Lobbyist and attorney Matt Leonardo contributed a piece examining cannabis items in Gov. Kathy Hochul’s state budget proposal.
“If state legislators pass the budget, it would mark a $6 billion increase over the 2024 fiscal year – which ends March 31 – while upending the potency-based tax system the MRTA set for the Empire State’s legal cannabis industry,” Leonardo wrote. “But first, lawmakers need to take several steps before voting on the budget by March 31.”
Lastly, tax attorney Paula Collins wrote a column explaining The Smokeout Act in New York’s state legislature, and how it would – or wouldn’t – impact the state’s cannabis industry.
“The Smokeout Act is nothing new. This is not a turning point; it is a regurgitation of other enforcement measures that have been tried before and have not worked,” Collins wrote. “The smoke and mirrors effect of the Smokeout Act is that municipal authorities are given the ability to seize property immediately if there is reason to believe unlicensed sales have occurred.”
Have a great weekend everyone, we’ll be back with plenty more next week.