While every state has experienced delays and a variety of growing pains in launching their recreational cannabis programs, New York appears to be having its share of problems and then some.
The fourth most populous state in the country still only has about two dozen cannabis retail stores open and nowhere near the capacity to sell last year’s legal crop — about 300,000 harvested in the fall of 2022, now aging in bins, bags and storage rooms across the Empire State.
The state is also facing a lawsuit from a pair of anti-cannabis groups aiming to overturn the legislation that legalized adult-use marijuana in New York. The two groups — Cannabis Impact Prevention Coalition and Cannabis Industry Victims Seeking Justice — say cannabis cannot be legal in New York, despite the 2021 passage of the Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act, because the substance is illegal under federal law, according to a story by the Albany Times Union.
The groups also contend that cannabis consumption is harmful and “medical marijuana” is a misleading phrase, making several claims of their own that have been proven to be misleading (among others that could said equally of other legal substances, including alcohol and tobacco).
“False advertising may mislead vulnerable patients and the public,” the lawsuit states. “‘Medical’ use may inadvertently result in addiction, increased risk of psychosis, mental or psychosocial impairment, lung damage when smoked, and complications for unborn children when used during pregnancy. The presence of ‘medical marijuana’ dispensaries may increase access to recreational marijuana for minors.”
Meanwhile, the state did take several steps to curb the rampant illegal market and to open up new pathways for legal growers and processors to sell their products.
In June, the state began enforcement actions on the many unlicensed shops selling cannabis that have sprouted since the passage of the Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act. New York’s Office of Cannabis Management and Department of Tax and Finance conducted inspections at 33 unlicensed storefronts in New York City, Ithaca and Binghamton, issuing violation notices to 31 of the businesses and confiscating more than 1,000 pounds of cannabis. In May, the state announced plans to allow “farmers market” events where state-licensed growers would be allowed to sell their products direct to the public, a stopgap measure for lack of functioning retailers.
— Garrett Rudolph