Governor Hochul Announces The Office of Cannabis Management Seeding Opportunity Initiative
On March 10, Governor Kathy Hochul announced the first-in-the-nation Seeding Opportunity Initiative, which will position individuals with prior cannabis-related criminal offenses to make the first adult-use cannabis sales with products grown by New York farmers. This farm-to-store initiative makes sales in New York possible before the end of 2022, jumpstarts New York’s Cannabis Industry, guarantees support for future equity applicants, and secures an early investment into communities most impacted by the disproportionate enforcement of cannabis prohibition.
“New York State is making history, launching a first-of-its-kind approach to the cannabis industry that takes a major step forward in righting the wrongs of the past,” Governor Hochul said. “The regulations advanced by the Cannabis Control Board today will prioritize local farmers and entrepreneurs, creating jobs and opportunity for communities that have been left out and left behind. I’m proud New York will be a national model for the safe, equitable and inclusive industry we are now building.”
The Cannabis Control Board at its meeting March 10 advanced two components of the Seeding Opportunity Initiative. Before any applications are accepted and licenses provided, a public comment time period will take place on the proposed regulations. Starting March 15, hemp farmers can apply to grow cannabis starting this spring.
Cannabis Control Board Member Jen Metzger said, “The Seeding Opportunity Initiative truly sets New York’s program apart from other states that have legalized adult-use, by starting out of the gate with an equity- and sustainability-led program that will supply equity entrepreneur-owned dispensaries with sun-grown cannabis products, It is a great start to building a new industry in which small businesses can thrive and generational wealth can be created.”
Adam Perry, Cannabis Control Board Member said, “Shaping the New York cannabis industry and putting social equity entrepreneurs at the forefront is a historic opportunity to address the harm caused by cannabis prohibition and fully implement the goals of New York’s Cannabis Law. This is the right start for the industry and I look forward to continuing to work with our team to support all license types to ensure we’re not only delivering licenses to social equity entrepreneurs, but also setting them up for success over the long-haul.”
Senator Liz Krueger said, “The initiatives announced by the Governor today will help to ensure that the equity and justice goals of the MRTA will be met, and that New York farmers and small businesses will serve as the foundation of the legal cannabis market. The MRTA was designed not only to end the failed war on drugs in New York, but specifically to take positive action to help rebuild those communities that were most harmed by prohibition. Offering the first retail licenses to people who have been convicted of marijuana-related offenses is a big step in the right direction, and will set the marketplace on a path where social equity applicants can compete successfully.”
The Seeding Opportunity Initiative provides a Conditional Adult-Use Retail Dispensary License to eligible equity-entrepreneur applicants, putting them at the front-end of the adult-use market. This first-round, equity-licensing opportunity will be supported with renovated or renovation-ready retail locations and wraparound services with dispensaries sited in high-traffic areas.
Applications for these priority licenses will open in the Summer of 2022. The first licenses are expected to be distributed by late summer or early fall 2022. This positions equity-entrepreneur-owned dispensaries to make the first adult-use cannabis sales in New York State by the end of 2022 while speeding the delivery of investments into communities across the state that were most impacted by the disproportionate enforcement of cannabis prohibition.
Under the proposed regulations, to be eligible for this initial license, applicants must:
- Have a cannabis-related offense that occurred prior to the passage of the Marijuana Regulation and Tax Act (MRTA) on March 31, 2021 , or had a parent, guardian, child, spouse, or dependent with a pre-MRTA cannabis offense in the State of New York.
- Have experience owning and operating a qualifying business in the State of New York.
- The New York Social Equity Cannabis Investment Program: Governor Hochul proposed this $200 million program in her FY 2023 Executive Budget, the nation’s first to make funding available for equity entrepreneurs at the forefront of the adult-use cannabis market. Under the proposal, the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York (DASNY) would provide support with its leasing and construction services to site dispensaries at prime locations and renovate them to meet health, safety, and security requirements. The proposal remains under discussion with the Legislature.
Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) Executive Director Chris Alexander held a press conference on March 10 to discuss the initiative, adding that the state was looking for people with small business experience, who were arrested for small amounts of marijuana, and because of that arrest had the education aid denied, or job or other opportunity taken away. must be owned by equity-entrepreneurs with a prior cannabis-related criminal offense who also have a background owning and operating a small business. They will be the first to open and make sales in New York State,
Drug related convictions must have occured before March 31, 2021. The approval of a license can also include family members of an applicant who was convicted of a marijuana-related offense, or those who have a parent, guardian, child, spouse, or dependent with a pot conviction.
Non-profits can also qualify for a license if they can prove that they “serve justice involved individuals and communities with historically high rates of arrest, conviction, incarceration or other indicators of law enforcement activity for [marijuana]-related offenses;” have an established track-record of creating jobs for returned convicts; and if they employ “justice involved” New Yorkers on their boards or in their executive leadership.
Republicans in Albany opposed the plan, and especially the $200 Million in seed money proposed by the Governor. Republican State Senate Minority Leader Rob Ortt said this plan “hands out hundreds of millions in taxpayer dollars to those who have broken the law.”
