While New York State has legalized recreational adult use of marijuana, there are still many regulations and rules that users, growers, and businesses need to know. Guests attending a public forum Thursday at the University at Buffalo heard advice from researchers and business owners about the do's and don’ts of legal pot.
New York State legalized marijuana last year. Individuals may possess up to three ounces legally, and grow up to three adult plants at home at a given time.
Businesses who wish to grow, process, distribute, or host those smoking it must be licensed.
“There will be a licensing of cultivators, processors, distributors, retailers of adult use cannabis,” said State Assembly Majority Leader Crystal Peoples-Stokes, who pushed for passage of legalized marijuana in March 2021. “Licenses also include cooperatives, microbusinesses, delivery, and on-site consumption. The new law will provide assistance for social equity applicants, such as MWBEs (Minority and Women Owned Business Enterprises), distressed farmers, disabled veterans, providing training, lower fees, mentoring and low interest loans. The goal of the program is to support social equity, small businesses and help preserve our farming community in the State of New York.”
The federal government continues to classify marijuana as a Schedule I item under the Controlled Substances Act. It remains illegal under federal law, and guests were warned that federal authorities hold the right to act within 50 miles of an international border, even in states where recreational marijuana may be legal.
Because it remains illegal under federal law, most banks or credit unions either won’t provide loans to marijuana-related businesses, or they’re extremely hesitant.
Among the strategies to increase a startup’s chances of gaining a license or startup capital is to avoid branding and marketing that blatantly ties the business to marijuana.
Glenna Colaprete owns Glenna’s CBD and Spa in the Rochester area. She explained that she and her husband needed to get creative when working around the initials CBD, and even then they’d run into roadblocks including banks saying no, and website providers shutting down their site.
“We picked ‘Colorado’s Brand Distributing’ because then we could shorten it to CBD,” she told the audience. “I know that caused a lot of uproar when we were awarded a license.”
Others speaking Thursday suggested consistent product quality is also critical for licensing.
Michelle Bonn is president and chief executive officer of Compliance Team, LLC, a company that provides quality assurance and compliance services to pharmaceutical and medical clients. She told the audience of the importance of ensuring marijuana crops are also consistent.
“It's very exciting to see that legitimacy of cannabis coming to the forefront,” she said. “The plan is so complex, that there's a lot of scientific evidence in other countries that we can start doing here with appropriate research in testing laboratories and compliance. And so what I leave all the time is the safety, efficacy and quality of your product, your process for how you do everything. Because when you get a process that structured and tight, you have consistency over and over and over.”
There are still concerns among many researching marijuana.
Lorraine Collins, director of UB's Center for Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research, said marijuana is far more complex than tobacco or alcohol. For starters, there are more than 500 chemicals within the plant. Some promote a psychoactive response, most notably THC, while other chemicals such as CBD are known for their medicinal uses.
“We're probably over the next few years going to have all sorts of different variants based on the savvy of the chemists who work for the cannabis industry," Collins said. "So we need to be prepared for all sorts of things that will come in the future.”
One of the motivating factors in legalization of marijuana is the ability of a government to regulate and tax the product. Collins suggested that while it could indeed bring in a significant revenue source to New York, the state needs to be careful not to put tax revenues over public health.
“We try to look at risk in certain vulnerable populations. Children, for example, even though the law says 21, we've got lots of cases where kids are going to the emergency room because of accidental use,” Collins said. “I'm hoping that as you develop products, that the packaging will consider that issue, that children are very vulnerable. Pets also.”
She added that potential exposure to youth and adolescents is concerning because, while the minimum age to use marijuana legally is 21, brain research shows development continues into a person’s mid-20s.
Peoples-Stokes estimates cannabis tax revenues could be as high as $300 million annually. That money, she explained, will be divided for uses including helping communities hardest hit by the “war on drugs,” police training, expunging criminal records, and creating business incubators for those looking to get involved in the industry.
Funds will also support the Office of Cannabis Management, formed to oversee the industry and adult use of marijuana in New York State.
