This post was originally published on this site.
Jeffrey Hoffman is a New York City-based attorney who hosts “Ask Me Anything about Cannabis Legalization in New York” each week on LinkedIn. Hoffman and NY Cannabis Insider have partnered to bring those sessions into print in a Q&A format.
Hoffman’s 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 AMAs from Jan. 17 and Jan. 24 have been edited for length and clarity. His next AMA will be on Jan. 31.
What happened to the CCB meeting that was supposed to happen before your Jan. 24 show?
The Governor told them not to have it. So they didn’t. She’s been getting a lot of heat about the process. To have been saying for so long that the most important thing was to open stores, and to have had these applications for two months, and then put out a list of like a dozen licensees where not even half of them were stores – I think that was just too much. So they pulled the plug.
Home-grow regulations?
They were supposed to be approved for publishing at the meeting that was canceled. SMH.
Could you explain what’s in the AU home-grow a bit more?
For recreational home grow, you’re going to have six plants, three immature and three mature per person, with a maximum of 12 in the household. And a maximum of 5 pounds of flower at home with some equivalency of concentrates (your mileage may vary).
What’s going on with the delivery process?
Right now any retail dispensary can do delivery. Some of the CAURDs have locations that are delivery-only like Beth at Purple Cow up in the Hudson Valley. At some point there will be a stand alone delivery license which, as currently contemplated, will effectively be UberEats for cannabis. I don’t think that’s the best model – the delivery licensees should be able to have a small amount of their own inventory.
What did you make of the non-provisional license queue listings?
It’s about what was expected. I had thought everyone with extra priority would get a license, but instead they gave them 3 ping-pong balls which will probably result in some extra priority folks not getting licenses. There are a ton of SEE folks on the list which is great though we should expect lawsuits about that.
When will we see the queue for all the licenses not on the non-provisional list?
At a recent event, Misters Kagia and Fagon indicated that they hope to start giving out those licenses in March, so we’d probably need to see that list in late February or early March, absent any delays (injunctions, etc).
Can CAURD licensees submit an application for a second location?
I guess they can submit but OCM has been pretty clear that they aren’t giving anyone a second license any time soon. As things stand now, you can be a non-passive investor in up to 3 dispensaries. The best way to get a second is to get the first, open it, and crush it. The #1 target for a regulator to give a license to is someone they have already given a license to who is crushing it.
Do the applicants in the queue now have a path forward without filing another application at some point?
No, they do not. If they do not get the license out of this queue, they will have to apply again in the next round.
What are your thoughts on the Governor’s proposal which would call for a simplification of the potency tax?
It actually calls for the elimination of the potency tax and replaces it with a 9% excise tax. I think you’re gonna get a lot of people fighting this because I think the 9% is still pretty high. We should have no taxes for the first at least three years and maybe five years of the program. How do you combat the illicit market? You open a ton of stores. You have a smart tax scheme. You help your licensees delight their customers. And yes, you enforce against illicit operators, just like we do with alcohol. But if you don’t do the first three things, then well, good luck to you.
Who’s your favorite Yankee?
It’s got to be Yogi Berra, right? He has the greatest quotes of anybody of all time. And of course: 10 fingers, 10 rings.