A legislative extension? A request that special event permits be issued in the short term?
In light of last week’s announcement by the Office of Cannabis Management that the popular Cannabis Growers Showcase events would be jettisoned come year’s end, both of these measures are on the table, Assemblywoman Donna Lupardo (D-Binghamton) told NY Cannabis Insider.
Asked whether she had been consulted or notified beforehand of OCM’s decision, Lupardo, who chairs the NYS Assembly Agriculture Committee, said, “This was news to me. I assumed the program would be extended.”
Since its inception in late summer, the CGS program has generated more than $4 million in sales, according to the OCM. The agency’s rationale for winding them down before the end of the year is the slew of new retail dispensaries expected to open over the next few weeks and months, making CGS events moot.
But as told to NY Cannabis Insider last week by city officials in Buffalo and Rochester, new retail stores won’t be opening immediately.
Both of these populous upstate cities, as well as Syracuse, have received an avalanche of new store applications, each of which has to be carefully scrutinized and vetted before any approvals are granted.
With an estimated 240,000-pound surplus of weed grown by cannabis cultivators over the past two years and only 32 licensed dispensaries, statewide, capable of selling that product, the CGS events have proven to be a lifeline for some farmers.
“I am not happy with the decision to end the Cannabis Growers Showcases, given the enormous surplus of product our cannabis farmers still have available,” Lupardo said.
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.
The assemblywoman also mentioned that she has heard from several cannabis associations concerned about fallout from the OCM showcase decision.
“We’re setting up some meetings with them. First, we want to know why they are ending … and at the very least, we want to see special event permits issued.”
“We’re looking for a compromise with OCM,” she said, but if need be, “my colleague (State Sen. Michelle Hinchey) and I will push the matter and file official legislation extending” the Cannabis Growers Showcases.
Whether Gov. Kathy Hochul signs such a bill remains to be seen, Lupardo quipped, since the tribal nations bill passed in May has yet to be signed into law by the governor and it expires at the end of this month.
For her part, Hinchey told NY Cannabis Insider: “I fully support an extension of Cannabis Growers Showcases, and alongside Assemblywoman Donna Lupardo, we are looking at all avenues through which extensions, alternatives, and short-term permits could be utilized to support New York farmers who continue to face detrimental financial losses.”
Senator Michelle Hinchey, chair of the committee on agriculture, champions the cannabis agricultural market during CANY's lobby day in Albany on March 28, 2023.
Matt Robinson, owner of Essential Flowers (DBA Legacy Dispensers), has coordinated 15 showcases since August, and said “ending the events will be devastating … Customers that have relied on these events will be going back to other states and back to the illicit market.”
“These events have been going smoothly,” Robinson added. “Customers are complaining already about the stoppage of the events. Now is the time to extend these events and to show the people of New York they are being heard.”
Robinson noted that as a coordinator for these events — mostly in the Hudson Valley — he represents 40 different farmers who will be impacted by the stoppage.
The NYS Legislature “should hold an emergency session to amend the law to include these events,” he said.
Uncertainty over when many of the newly licensed dispensaries will open is a big concern for Tessa Williams, owner of Empire Farm 1830 in Columbia County.
“What is the farmer supposed to do until they open after holding inventory since August 2022 with a second harvest in hand, and still holding?” Williams asked. “These new dispensaries are not going to pop up overnight.”
There’s a misconception, she noted, that somehow growers are making out big time with the showcases when just the opposite is true.
By the time you pay someone $200 to “stand there for eight hours, slinging the stuff, plus transporting it to and from the farm,” she said, you’re fortunate to break even.
“I need to sell 50 jars in order to cover expenses when we have an event. It’s mostly about reducing the inventory and keeping staff employed with the cash flow.”
A spokesman for OCM did not respond to a request for comment.