Recently, the New York State Cannabis Control Board of the Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) declared some major changes in adult-use cannabis regulations. The Cannabis Control Board (CCB) mentioned these changes as proposed revised adult-use regulations that should be rolled out in the prior set of 14th December, 2022 draft.
What are the Major Takeaways?
These revised regulations take place in various fields like cultivation, nursery, processing, distribution, retail dispensary, microbusiness license, and cannabis collective.
- New policy on ownership of ROD (Registered Organization Adult-Use Cultivator Processor Distributor Retail Dispensaries)
- Provides a new definition for True Parties of Interest and Passive Investors
- New security and staffing requirements SOPs
- Fee structure for social and economic equity plan
- Improves the registration process and organizations entry period for retail
- Provides provisional licenses & process to receive it
- New delivery requirements and regulations
What do These Revised Regulations Mean for SOP Requirements?
If you already own a cannabis retail store, then you probably know the importance of standard operating procedures. They are often required as part of state licensing applications and are also essential to avoid penalties or license revocation. In short, keeping up with SOPs is very much required in the cannabis business. And the proposed revised regulations have tons of new SOPs that should be followed as per the rules.
Outline of General Application Process & Provisional License
The proposed regulations have inverted the concept of a provisional license that helps retailers with their eligibility criteria without pre-determining the store location. The new process is introduced to minimize the cost and help them to raise funds & finances, and have a reliable squad. It seems like an effective approach to help prospective applicants to prepare their license applications in advance.
How can Registered Organizations Expand in the Market?
The previous draft of the regulation had unnecessarily punitive restrictions on Registered Organizations (ROs), wherein new regulations have mentioned that medical marijuana providers can move into the adult-use market. As per the proposed regulations, New York’s ten registered companies will be permitted to open up to eight medical dispensaries. Thanks to proposed changes, Cannabis Law now allows all registered organizations to take part in recreational cannabis to open up to three adult-use or medical dispensaries.
What is the Proposed Timeline?
As per the new proposal, The first collocation of medical and adult use can take place after December 29, 2023; wherein the second and third co-located stores can happen after June 29, 2024.
What’s new with True Party of Interest?
The proposed regulation now focuses on the annual compensation arrangement threshold to get eligible applicants for a True Party of Interest. The recreational license applicants get a maximum of ten percent of gross revenue and fifty percent of net profit, which means the threshold will be increased from $ 100, 000 to $ 250,000.
What Does Limited Retail Consumption Facility Means?
The limited retail consumption facility means the government has legally permitted New Yorkers who are above 21 years to consume marijuana in the premises of retail dispensaries. This decision also included local governments identifying and specifying the marijuana consumption/exempted areas within the jurisdictions as per the Clean Indoor Air Act. Limited retail consumption facilities should be created within the same building and entry should be restricted to people above the age of 21 years.
In simple language, it means dispensaries should have a designated area on their premises where consumers can use purchased marijuana and marijuana products.
What is the New Microbusiness Purchasing Limit?
Each microbusiness owner can only purchase up to 500 pounds of marijuana biomass every year and added biomass can be taken at the time of alarming circumstances like crop failure. It is an interesting approach to limit purchasing and provide protection against unexpected and unforeseen incidents.
What are New Delivery Regulations?
New regulations have a set of guidelines about how to handle retail delivery procedures and licenses. The proposal has set restrictions about where cannabis may be delivered and where it is prohibited such as schools, parks, community centers, motor vehicles, public buildings, daycares, or spiritual places. As per the new regulations, retail stores should limit to twenty-five full-time employees to deliver marijuana and marijuana products in a week. Moreover, the limit of delivering marijuana is 30% for a driver to carry it out at once.
So, these were some revised regulations that were discussed in New York’s cannabis control board meeting held on 11th May 2023. The formal rollout of adult-use rules and regulations may be announced by the government in the upcoming few months.
