Thank you so much to everyone who attended NY Cannabis Insider’s final conference of 2023 on Thursday!
It was a great day filled with informative panels, plenty of networking and great company at the Sonesta in White Plains. We’ll have a writeup about the event early next week, but we’d be remiss if we didn’t thank all the sponsors, speakers and guests who made it possible.
We spent much of our week planning and putting on the conference, but we still wrote stories about some important developments in New York’s cannabis industry last week. Let’s take a look at the stories we covered.
Yesterday, we wrote about a Cannabis Control Board meeting at which members approved updated regulations for cannabinoid hemp, which place severe limits on THC content, despite an ongoing lawsuit in which a judge barred regulators from enforcing the limit via emergency regulation.
Board members voted to approve the rules during a Friday morning meeting. The CCB had previously passed emergency regulations for cannabinoid hemp, and businesses selling newly banned products sued in Albany Supreme Court soon after. Attorney Joshua Bauchner told NY Cannabis Insider that the OCM can likely now enforce the rules, despite the court injunction. That’s because the injunction covers the emergency rules, but now they’re official regulations.
We ran an investigative piece by reporter Wes Parnell, which revealed large out-of-state corporations are breaking state regulations to secure market share while also boxing out the Empire State’s small farmers and brands through flush deals, or by offering large amounts of money in a market currently starved for cash.
Additionally, the investigation found that the Office of Cannabis Management is aware of the problem – but has decided not to enforce against these companies out of fear of disrupting the supply chain.
Earlier in the week, we posted a story about how some New York state senators want to move forward after a fact-finding hearing related last month.
After hearing from state cannabis regulators, law enforcement leaders and adult-use licensees, members of the New York State Senate Subcommittee on Cannabis are now taking a fresh look at enforcement, New York’s cannabis social equity investment fund and other key issues affecting the rollout of the state’s legal weed market.
Cannabis-focused tax attorney Paula Collins contributed a guest column, which explores whether New York can affect social equity and accessibility in a regulated and taxed cannabis market.
Lastly, we added a new entry to our “People to know in NY cannabis” series: Jalen Jones, a senior account executive at Dutchie specializing in helping merchants navigate new and emerging markets.
Have a great weekend, we’ll have plenty more for you next week.