May 18, 2022
By Andrew Kingsdale
Last month, our office organized a team of legal and industry experts to submit comprehensive public comments improving New York’s proposed revised medical cannabis regulations. The International Cannabis Bar Association’s (INCBA) then reviewed, further improved, and submitted these comments, which can be viewed here. Our comments were also shared with, and overlapped significantly with, comments submitted by the New York State Bar Association’s Cannabis Law Section.
Thanks to the team of contributors, including Chris Eggers (Security Consultant at CC Security Solutions), Mitch Colbert (Head of Social and Environmental Impact for Vessel Brand), as well as INCBA’s Legislative Advisement Committee members Victoria Litman, Patricia Kessler, Chris Davis, Andrea Steel, and Eliyahu Scheiman.
Next up: public comments on the New York’s first round of adult use retail dispensary licenses, due on Tuesday, May 31, 2022 (one day after Memorial Day). Once again we plan to spearhead another set of comprehensive comments to help improve the cannabis regulations at this critical, early stage.
Under the Cannabis Control Board’s conditional adult-use retail dispensary license proposed regulations, only persons “convicted of a marihuana-related offense in New York State” prior to March 31, 2022, and certain of their relatives, will be eligible for these “conditional” licenses. Furthermore, applicants must have had a 10% interest and control over “a qualifying business, which means a business that had net profit for at least two of the years the business was in operation.” (Proposed Section 116.4(a).)
While well-intentioned, the proposed retail dispensary regulations leave many questions unanswered, create some potentially unfair consequences, and need clarification to prevent potential applicants from wasting their time and resources. For example:
How long and when must an applicant have had “control” over a qualifying business?
What are the other “offense[s] identified by the Office to be a marihuana-related offense”?
What will be the terms and conditions for state-funded loans to construct, renovate, and equip the conditional retail dispensaries?
Will conditional licensees be allowed to negotiate the terms of the store leases and subleases before or after the conditional period expires?
May non-profit cannabis retail licensees even qualify as federal 501(c)(3) tax-exempt entities?
Why is the “passive investor” exception limited to publicly-traded licensees only?
In addition to these questions, application disclosure requirements for applicants, their members, investors, and spouses are quite overbroad and onerous, which will unnecessarily deter potential applicants and/or waste their time and resources.
I look forward to attending the aptly titled panel discussion “Conditional Retail Regulations: A Myriad of Concerns” at the NY Cannabis Insider Conference this Friday, and working further with other industry experts to submit comments that help improved these rules and regulations, so that New York’s adult-use market can survive and thrive from the get go.
Please contact us if you are interested in collaborating on this next round of comments.
This information is provided as a public educational service and is not intended, nor should be construed, as legal advice. If you have specific questions regarding cannabis or hemp laws in New York or California, contact the Law Offices of Omar Figueroa at 212-931-0420 or newyork@omarfigueroa.com to schedule a confidential legal consultation.
The attorney responsible for this advertisement is Andrew Kingsdale. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
New York Proposed Regulations: INCBA Comments, and Next Deadline
May 18, 2022
By Andrew Kingsdale
Last month, our office organized a team of legal and industry experts to submit comprehensive public comments improving New York’s proposed revised medical cannabis regulations. The International Cannabis Bar Association’s (INCBA) then reviewed, further improved, and submitted these comments, which can be viewed here. Our comments were also shared with, and overlapped significantly with, comments submitted by the New York State Bar Association’s Cannabis Law Section.
Thanks to the team of contributors, including Chris Eggers (Security Consultant at CC Security Solutions), Mitch Colbert (Head of Social and Environmental Impact for Vessel Brand), as well as INCBA’s Legislative Advisement Committee members Victoria Litman, Patricia Kessler, Chris Davis, Andrea Steel, and Eliyahu Scheiman.
Next up: public comments on the New York’s first round of adult use retail dispensary licenses, due on Tuesday, May 31, 2022 (one day after Memorial Day). Once again we plan to spearhead another set of comprehensive comments to help improve the cannabis regulations at this critical, early stage.
Under the Cannabis Control Board’s conditional adult-use retail dispensary license proposed regulations, only persons “convicted of a marihuana-related offense in New York State” prior to March 31, 2022, and certain of their relatives, will be eligible for these “conditional” licenses. Furthermore, applicants must have had a 10% interest and control over “a qualifying business, which means a business that had net profit for at least two of the years the business was in operation.” (Proposed Section 116.4(a).)
While well-intentioned, the proposed retail dispensary regulations leave many questions unanswered, create some potentially unfair consequences, and need clarification to prevent potential applicants from wasting their time and resources. For example:
How long and when must an applicant have had “control” over a qualifying business?
What are the other “offense[s] identified by the Office to be a marihuana-related offense”?
What will be the terms and conditions for state-funded loans to construct, renovate, and equip the conditional retail dispensaries?
Will conditional licensees be allowed to negotiate the terms of the store leases and subleases before or after the conditional period expires?
May non-profit cannabis retail licensees even qualify as federal 501(c)(3) tax-exempt entities?
Why is the “passive investor” exception limited to publicly-traded licensees only?
In addition to these questions, application disclosure requirements for applicants, their members, investors, and spouses are quite overbroad and onerous, which will unnecessarily deter potential applicants and/or waste their time and resources.
I look forward to attending the aptly titled panel discussion “Conditional Retail Regulations: A Myriad of Concerns” at the NY Cannabis Insider Conference this Friday, and working further with other industry experts to submit comments that help improved these rules and regulations, so that New York’s adult-use market can survive and thrive from the get go.
Please contact us if you are interested in collaborating on this next round of comments.
This information is provided as a public educational service and is not intended, nor should be construed, as legal advice. If you have specific questions regarding cannabis or hemp laws in New York or California, contact the Law Offices of Omar Figueroa at 212-931-0420 or newyork@omarfigueroa.com to schedule a confidential legal consultation.
The attorney responsible for this advertisement is Andrew Kingsdale. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.