Happy June Stashies!!! The weather has been warm, the vibes have been immaculate and we can truly say us that all of us have been OUTSIDE!!! Our team continues to be on the grind since MJ Unpacked. We've been reading a lot of industry news to keep up with New York State's ever changing cannabis landscape. Check out some of our recent reading list.
First things first! We always give it up for and heed the wise words of women in cannabis and encourage you to read this recent profile of Britni Tantalo who is the President of Flower City Dispensary based in Rochester and CEO of the NY CAURD Coalition. Every woman's origin story into cannabis is so different and yet many times we face the same obstacles with raising capital and becoming an established business. Britni shared some great insight about leadership and also shared other cannabis brands and businesses to highlight.
Next up on the legislative front, New York City is lucky to have strong elected supporters of regulated cannabis whom are also trying to address issues like the unregulated smoke shops. On the federal level, the Senate Banking Committee recently held a hearing on cannabis banking issues including the Safe and Fair Enforcement Act (SAFE). The SAFE Banking Act would protect banks that work with state-legal cannabis businesses from being penalized by federal regulators. Sen. Schumer announced that he would also be adding expungement for those that have been impacted by extra punitive criminalization. The fact that the SAFE Act has bipartisan support in Congres in the current political climate is encouraging and keep watching the federal government slowly make its way out of the stone ages.
On the MSO front, the Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) recently announced changes to the current regulations to allow for MSO's to fill in the retail gap as there is a large supply of cannabis that has not made it to market yet. The prior regulation that provided a three year waiting period for MSO's to enter the recreational market while also in theory allowing smaller equity and justice impacted dispensaries to gain a foothold has been eliminated. The jury is still out on the impact for smaller businesses but it will provide more avenues for regulated cannabis to meet the demands of customers.
Finally, we have heard endlessly about the gray market proliferated by the smoke shops on every block selling bud, but this article provided a different narrative as seen from the lens of New Yorkers that have set up a table in local parks and on busy streets to sell. Being that its NYC, we can't knock the hustle and everyone is trying to get in where they fit in.
While this is just a taste of what we read daily on NYS cannabis (our google alert is forever chiming), let us know about your cannabis media diet and what conversations are sparking for you! Till next time Stashies!!