Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - While marijuana is legal in New York, the process of New York establishing rules and applications for licensing cultivation, processing and distributing has been lengthy.
Tuesday, June 28th marks the first day where marijuana processors can apply for the adult-use conditional processor license. This license will allow businesses who are already licensed to process cannabinoid hemp in the Cannabinoid Hemp Program to apply for a license to process adult-use cannabis products in the Adult-Use Program.
"This is the application window that we've been waiting for, since the adult-use conditional cultivators were allowed to submit. The window for application opens June 28 and it closes on August 31. What you'll see is that there really aren't that many processors in New York State, I think there's a list of maybe between 25 and 40 companies currently that have existing licenses," said Aleece Burgio, General Counsel and Strategic Advisor for MariJade Industries.
"There are some lenient rules for those people who can apply, but we don't have that many people in the stream right now that we think will be able to apply, but ever since we got that marketing advice, advertising and laboratory requirements now permits us to have this this window of application," Burgio says.
"Like the other conditional licenses that New York State has created, this one is a conditional license for businesses that were licensed under New York's industrial Hemp Program, basically, it's for businesses that were allowed by the state to do something with respect to cannabidiol, or CBD," said Tristan Hujer, Partner of Phillips Lytle and Co-Leader of the Cannabis Practice Team.
What has taken New York State so long to commence the process of the series of applications?
"I think that there are a lot of factors. There's the there's passing the bill into law, there's adopting rules and regulations, trying to make sure that all of the goals and objectives of the law are being satisfied throughout the process and making sure the key stakeholders have a say, I think we all had expected and at least hoped that things would have happened quicker, but it's definitely not a simple process," Hujer said.
"It really goes back to those rules and regulations. In order for you to have a product go to market, we needed to understand all those really specific labeling and marketing requirements. They just put out those regulations a few weeks ago and so that's an a comment period right now. Now that those have dropped, the Office of Cannabis Management was then able to open up the processor license window with the intention of them being able to follow those guidelines," said Burgio.
When can we go into stores and buy cannabis? It is likely that we could see dispensaries open up by the end of this year.
"It might happen before the end of the year. There are 9 registered organizations and 40 dispensaries that are medical. You may see in this time, the Office of Cannabis Management allowing for medical operators to sell adult-use from those 40 dispensaries. That might happen before the end of 2022. That's a contentious issue for people in this space, letting medical get first look so, we'll see how it plays out," said Burgio.
According to cannabis.ny.gov, the Office of Cannabis Management is working diligently on providing more licensing opportunities for the broader Adult-use Program, with more information to be presented soon. Distribution licenses will begin in the near future as well.
"Right now, we've only seen a couple of different proposed regulations. We don't have a full set of regulations yet for anybody who's looking to apply that don't fit in these really limited categories of conditional process, conditional cultivator or part of the card licensing. Everybody else who doesn't fall on that list is waiting for these full rules and regulations," said Burgio.
"Come next year, if not shortly thereafter, these conditional licenses will come to an end and we'll just have licenses, meaning that businesses will be able to apply for a license and won't be able to obtain one just on this initial conditional basis. It will build out the industry so that we'll see more of a robust supply chain. We'll probably see more cultivators, more processors, more dispensaries and we'll see social consumption lounges. I expect that the industry is just going to kind of round out and grow within the next year or two," said Hujer.
To listen to the full interviews of Hujer and Burgio, see the players below: