New York's Office of Cannabis Management misses deadline to produce social equity plan

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New York's Office of Cannabis Management misses deadline to produce social equity plan

The first recreational cannabis sales in New York began on December 29, the State s Office of Cannabis Management OCM missed a deadline required by NY's cannabis law to produce a Social and Economic Equity Plan, according to Syracuse.com.

By January 1, 2023, the Marihuana Regulation and Taxation Act MRTA required the chief equity officer of the OCM to provide a report to the Cannabis Control Board on this plan, so it could be sent to the legislature. The legislature has the responsibility to review the plan and the required reports on its implementation, and the MRTA's social and economic equity goals, according to NYS Senator Jeremy Cooney.

The agency is reviewing hundreds of pages of notes from more than a dozen community roundtables held across the state with representatives from social and economic equity groups, and will submit a report on its social equity related activities after analyzing the locations of more than 1.2 million arrests to determine communities disproportionately impacted by the drug war, according to Freeman Klopott, who said the plan is expected to be released sometime in the first quarter of 2023.

Paula Collins, a NYC-based attorney who represents cannabis entrepreneurs and investors, said that they were looking for these reports to get information about how to move forward in this very dynamic space, and they need to hold themselves accountable to these deadlines. Why should anyone else in the space, like legacy or unlicensed vendors, take heed to the rules that they have set forth if they don't stick to the rules? A group of business owners formed a coalition that seeks to educate and compel the future cannabis retailers of the state.

Jayson Tantalo, who helped create the coalition, said that the NY CAURD Coalition aims to teach leadership skills, business basics, and marketing strategies to those interested in entering the industry, and to help transition into the legal market.

Jeremy Rivera, the group's co-founder and a CAURD applicant said that the Office of Cannabis Management promised that everything is coming to fruition, so we have to create a system where we are at the forefront. We want to make this generational wealth, but unless we work together to create a strong network, the big players are going to push out little money. There were more than 900 applicants for the state's CAURD program last year, and the OCM has only granted 28 of its 150 available licenses to individuals.

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