Authorities in New York approved a second batch of cannabis cultivation licenses last week, as the state prepares to launch retail “later this year.”
The Cannabis Control Board (CCB) has granted 36 additional grower licenses to companies already growing hemp. The body approved the first 52 applications last month, and regulators will continue to review offers as they come. These conditional licenses, approved in February, allow hemp growers to get a head start on growing cannabis to meet future demand.
Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) Executive Director Chris Alexander said Thursday that the state is still on track to launch retail “later this year,” adding that “so far, it had a huge impact in our communities statewide.”
In March, authorities also decided that people with previous convictions for cannabis possession, or whose family members have been harmed by criminalization, will get the first round of recreational cannabis sales licenses, before drug companies. existing medical cannabis.
“Thanks to the initiative” Seeding Opportunity“These farmers are growing the first produce that will be sold in dispensaries owned by Prohibition-harmed New Yorkers by the end of the year,” Chris Alexander said. “I think we have a hundred more [licences de cultivateurs] that will arrive in the pipeline”.
Overcome Federal Prohibition
The bill to legalize adult use of cannabis was signed into law just over a year ago in New York state, after regulators spent months preparing for its implementation.
Holders of a conditional cultivation license must have been authorized by the state Department of Agriculture to cultivate hemp by December 31, 2021 and have cultivated this plant for two of the last four years. They are also required to “participate in an environmental sustainability program and a social equity mentorship program.”
At last month’s CCB meeting, regulators also allowed patients to grow their own cannabis plants for personal use.
Broadly speaking, the rule would allow patients and registered caregivers to grow up to 6 plants, with only 3 flowering. They could possess up to 5 pounds (2.5 kilos) of cannabis from these plants, which is in line with state law on legalizing adult use.
Meanwhile, New York lawmakers recently sent a budget proposal to the governor’s office, which includes provisions allowing cannabis companies to take advantage of state tax deductions enjoyed by other industries, despite the ban. Cannabis Federal. This provision has been enacted and is increasingly part of legalization projects as recently in Delaware.
