New York Gov. Kathy Hochul outlined the state’s Seeding Opportunity Initiative, which positions individuals with prior cannabis-related criminal offenses to make the first adult-use cannabis sales with products grown by New York farmers.
“New York State is making history, launching a first-of-its-kind approach to the cannabis industry that takes a major step forward in righting the wrongs of the past,” Hochul said. “The regulations advanced by the Cannabis Control Board today will prioritize local farmers and entrepreneurs, creating jobs and opportunity for communities that have been left out and left behind. I’m proud New York will be a national model for the safe, equitable, and inclusive industry we are now building.”
The Cannabis Control Board recently advanced two Seeding Opportunity Initiative components – with the first being advancing public comment regulations for Conditional Adult-Use Retail Dispensaries, and secondly approving a license application for hemp farmers called the Adult-Use Conditional Cultivator License, which seeks to enable the growth of adult-use cannabis this spring.
“Our state’s Cannabis Law sets a high goal for creating an equitable industry that puts New Yorkers first,” Cannabis Control Board Chair Tremaine Wright said. “The Seeding Opportunity Initiative puts us on a path for achieving that goal and hopefully models a way forward for reaching those goals while building a stable market. I am thankful for the support of Gov. Hochul and the Legislature, which made it possible for us to get this initiative off the ground quickly, establish a supply chain from our farmers to equity, retailers and generate the resources to help revitalize communities that were harmed by the disproportionate enforcement of cannabis prohibition.”