By: Hadassa Kalatizadeh
New York’s legal cannabis industry has been launched, but the drawbacks are already piling up.
As reported by the NY Post, social justice critics are worried that as the first official marijuana stores prepare to open their doors for business, the obstacles they face seem insurmountable. On Friday, the Cannabis Social Equity Coalition said the requirement asking the first retail marijuana storefronts to purchase cannabis products from NY hemp farmers, leaves them with weed of “questionable quality and safety”. The groups says that the local farmers grow a “biomass” type of cannabis which isn’t a suitable flower for smoking. “This type of cannabis is considered low grade, best suited for processing into oils, vapes, topicals and edible cannabis products. It is not suitable as a smokable flower for sale at dispensaries,” Reginald Fluellen of the Cannabis Social Equity Coalition said. He also claimed that cannabis grown by these Hemp farmers contains a “high amount of bacteria, yeast and mold.”
In addition, the Cannabis Social Coalition, a group which advocates for the first licensed marijuana storefront sellers with prior weed convictions, said that the dispensary owners have not been given the adequate training and incubation support needed to run a successful business, in the highly regulated industry. They will be bogged down with “high debt and high interest rates on debt repayment, on day one,” the group said.
The state Office of Cannabis Management disputed both the claims. “Let’s stick to the facts, and they’re clear: New York’s first adult-use dispensaries will be selling products grown by New York family farmers that have been tested for a wide array of potentially harmful elements, including heavy metals, e-coli, aspergillus, and other contaminants in line with practices in other states,” said Damian Fagon, OCM’s chief equity officer.
In reference to their training and financial sustainability, the OCM responded saying: “These dispensary owners will receive support from the Social Equity Cannabis Investment Fund, breaking down barriers to capital in the complex industry; and they’re able to jumpstart the legal market with delivery sales, growing their capital before they open a storefront,” said OCM’s Fagon said. He added that “jumping to conclusions about the products they will sell and their ability to be successful will only be damaging to them and our effort to establish the most equitable cannabis market in the nation.”
Fagon added that the Coalition’s public comments now come are hardly constructive, being the group failed to add their input regarding the cannabis regulations during the public comment process. “We look forward to their input on the regulations for most of the remaining market that were advanced by the Cannabis Control Board last month since we didn’t receive comment from them on the regulations for this dispensary program,” said Fagon.
As per the Post, despite the state office’s rebuttals, others also worry that the legal cannabis industry may be set for failure. Last week, a study showed that there are “likely tens of thousands of illicit cannabis businesses” currently operating out of bodegas, smoke shops and other storefronts in New York City, and even in middle class neighborhoods. Most of these illicit weed sellers are paying little or no tax, while the state’s 36 licensed retail operators will be on the hook to pay a hefty cannabis tax. The illegal popups will make it hard for the legal operators, named last month, to compete on price.