Why New York Retailers Should Not “Gift” Cannabis
New York retailers should not “gift” cannabis to avoid putting at risk their ability to secure a license and avoid penalties
What We Learned from the New York City Cannabis Conversation
What did we learn from last week’s Office of Cannabis Management’s (OCM) New York City Cannabis Conversation? A few things. But first, a refresher: earlier this year the OCM and the Cannabis Control Board rolled out a series of virtual community engagement meetings. The Cannabis Conversations are intended to allow: “New Yorkers [to] hear directly
New York’s Proposed Cannabinoid Hemp Regulations
New York’s proposed cannabinoid hemp regulations are a big deal for the State’s 700 or so hemp farmers, and the greater cannabis industry. This post will explain how we got here, what the regulations provide, and what happens next. How New York arrived at the proposed cannabinoid hemp regulations For the past two months, the
New York Cannabis: $200 Million for Social Equity
New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced that New York will establish a $200 million fund to support social and economic equity applicants seeking adult-use cannabis licenses. Governor Hochul made the announcement during her State of the State address last week, on January 5, 2022. It is really easy to talk about prioritizing cannabis social equity
New York Cannabis: State of the State
The first year of legal adult-use cannabis in New York seems as good a year as any to continue the Canna Law Blog’s tradition of annual reflection on all things cannabis (and now psychedelics too!). 2021 has been a groundbreaking year for the cannabis industry in New York. We expect 2022 to be another year
Reminder: The Parody Defense to Trademark Infringement is Tricky
Parody is a tricky defense to cannabis trademark infringement, or to any infringement allegation whatsoever. For some background on this, check out our posts here, here and here. Still, people riff off established trademarks all the time, and when pursued, they often raise the parody defense. In the cannabis context, this happened most recently in
Cannabis in 2022: Let’s Look Forward Instead of Back
I really fought myself on putting together a festivus post of all that went wrong for the cannabis industry in 2021. Instead, I want to focus on the positives for 2022 as the industry continues to mature and expand across the U.S. and abroad. As 2021 comes to a close, here’s what I’m looking forward
New York Cannabis Legislation: Expanded Social Equity and Tax Deductions
In the last two months New York Senator Jeremy Cooney has introduced two pieces of cannabis legislation that could impact New York’s cannabis industry significantly. The first is Senate Bill S7517A, which expands the definition of social and economic equity applicant under the Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act (MRTA) to include gender equality. The second
New York’s Cannabis Control Board: Third Meeting News
New York’s Cannabis Control Board (CCB) held its third meeting yesterday, November 3, 2021. As will be the case with all CCB meetings, it was broadcast live and a transcript of the meeting will be published here. We were pretty clear with what we were hoping for coming out of the CCB’s third meeting and
New York’s Cannabis Control Board: 18 Months to Licensure
Since New York passed its adult-use cannabis legislation in March of 2021, we have all been waiting for one thing: a timeline for when adult-use licenses will be issued. We finally have an answer, which is… disappointing. Cannabis Control Board (CCB) Chairwoman Tremaine Wright has now publicly stated that the CCB is “working on an