Buffalo, NY (WBEN) An adviser for companies who want to get licenses to sell and cultivate marijuana in New York says those companies will have to wait until next year to apply for licenses. The Cannabis Control Board expects to have rules out in a couple of months.
Aleece Burgio of MJI Industries says she took part in a meeting with the Cannabis Control Board last week, and says it will be some time before licenses are approved. "For any type of license, whether it's to sell, cultivate process distribute, we're still looking at, you know, at least a year out for issuance of licenses," says Burgio.
Burgio says Cannabis Control Board Chairperson Tremaine Wright told her she hopes to see rules and regulations out March or early April. "What that looks like is once the first round of rules and regulations are issued, you are then going to see a few different rounds of public comment period, 60 day, 45 day comment period, where the public then...provides any type of notes that they have on those rules and regulations and so different, you know, types of lobbying bodies provide their their notes on what has been issued by the Cannabis Control Board," Burgio explains. She believes it will give us our first look at what will be needed for the application
Burgion says many of her clients are waiting to apply. "I think every business is probably pretty frustrated right now. There's a lot of I think anxiety about, you know, what's next, you know, New York is now a little bit behind the curve," says Burgio. She notes Connecticut and New Jersey already have the ball rolling. "But that doesn't mean that we're not going to have a successful program. But it is one of those things where we are just we're waiting to find out what is it going to look like? And I think even you know, any operator from a micro grow to large scale cultivator is unsure of what this is going to look like," says Burgio.
She doesn't think, however, this means New York will fall behind once it starts issuing licenses. "I still think New York's going to be one of the largest if not the largest market in the country. But I do think that we have to have a sustainable program, an inclusive program that makes sense for New York State. I don't see us, you know, worrying about the states around us. But I do worry about making sure that we make it easy for businesses to survive in the program," says Burgio.
The Cannabis Control Board was formed in September.