Facing a deadline that would have forced the state’s conditional cannabis supply chain to cease operations, New York extended conditional adult-use cultivators and processors’ ability to minimally process and distribute cannabis products in last-minute legislation signed on June 1, 2023.
The Conditional Adult-Use Cultivator and Adult-Use Processor Law allowed conditional adult-use cultivators and processors to “minimally” process and distribute their products through June 1, 2023, at which point they would need to apply for an official distributor and/or processor license. Senate Bill No. 7354 (Hinchey) and Assembly Bill No. 7430 (Peoples-Stokes), signed into law this morning, extends that limited authorization by one year – through June 1, 2024.
The authorization is a lifeline to licensed conditional cultivators and processors, who would have had no legal way to distribute their product had the authorization lapsed. The state’s Office of Cannabis Management has yet to release an application for a distributor license and only about a dozen licensed retailers are available to sell marijuana products.
The rollout of the state’s legal cannabis program has been slowed by legal delays and other red tape. Many cultivators and processors claim they are facing financial turmoil because they can’t sell last season’s harvest.
One proposed law under consideration – the Cannabis Crop Rescue Act – would allow struggling cultivators to sell directly to consumers until Sept. 30, 2023.
Harris Beach’s cannabis attorneys continue to follow developments throughout the industry. Our Cannabis Industry Team is on top of all regulatory developments and other pertinent industry news. For more information, please contact attorney Meaghan T. Feenan at (518) 701-2742 and mfeenan@harrisbeach.com, or the Harris Beach attorney with whom you most frequently work.
This alert is not a substitute for advice of counsel on specific legal issues.
Harris Beach has offices throughout New York state, including Albany, Buffalo, Ithaca, Long Island, New York City, Rochester, Saratoga Springs, Syracuse and White Plains, as well as Washington D.C., New Haven, Connecticut and Newark, New Jersey.
For more insights from our cannabis attorneys, please read:
- Proposed Legislation Designed to “Stabilize and Bolster” New York’s Cannabis Market
- New York Approves New Cannabis Licenses and Revised Regulations
- Will New York’s Cannabis Crop Rescue Act Pit Cannabis Retailers Against Cultivators?
- Court Lifts Injunction Barring Cannabis Retail Licenses for Four of Five New York Regions
- New York Sued Again on Cannabis Dispensary Licenses
- Federal Appeal Could Influence New York Cannabis Licensing for Rest of 2023
- U.S. District Court Upholds Washington State’s Residency Requirements for Cannabis Industry
- Uncertainty Within New York’s Cannabis Market Continues Amidst Judge’s Latest Decision
- Is Interstate Commerce Coming For The Cannabis Industry?