Amd §§14, 39, 63 & 72, add §85-a, Cannabis L; amd §99-ii, St Fin L
Enacts the "cannabis adult-use transition act"; increases the number of members on the state cannabis advisory board from thirteen to seventeen voting appointed members; provides that an eligible registered organization shall be authorized as a registered organization adult-use cultivator processor distributor retail dispensary upon approval of an application to the office of cannabis management that must be available to such registered organizations no later than August first, two thousand twenty-five and remain available thereafter; provides that the office must approve or deny such application within thirty days of its submission or it shall be deemed approved; makes related provisions.
STATE OF NEW YORK
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7646
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
April 4, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. BRONSON, REYES, CRUZ, ZACCARO -- read once and
referred to the Committee on Economic Development
AN ACT to amend the cannabis law and the state finance law, in relation
to enacting the "cannabis adult-use transition act"
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Short title. This act shall be known and may be cited as
2 the "cannabis adult-use transition act".
3 § 2. Legislative findings and intent. Chapter 92 of the laws of 2021,
4 known as the Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act, legalized and regu-
5 lated cannabis for adult-use; expanded and improved the medical cannabis
6 program and the hemp program; established the Cannabis Control Board and
7 the Office of Cannabis Management, and codified historical social and
8 economic equity policies. Chapter 18 of the laws of 2022 created the
9 conditional adult-use cultivator and processor licenses to jump start
10 New York's adult-use cannabis market with small New York farmers.
11 The legislature recognizes that due to a variety of circumstances
12 beyond the control of New York's cannabis licensees and applicants,
13 there have been delays and unforeseen challenges with the implementation
14 of various components of the state's cannabis markets. Conditional
15 cultivators cannot afford to process their cannabis or sell their
16 finished products; conditional processors are struggling with limited
17 retail outlets; conditional adult-use retail dispensary licensees and
18 applicants do not have access to capital, locations, or the resources
19 they need to become operational; and the state's medical registered
20 organizations and patients are facing a diminishing medical cannabis
21 market. As a result, the state's cannabis industries are losing value
22 and jobs, patients are being left behind, and the illicit market is
23 growing.
24 § 3. Subdivisions 2 and 3 of section 14 of the cannabis law are
25 amended to read as follows:
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD03184-01-5
A. 7646 2
1 2. The state cannabis advisory board shall consist of [thirteen]
2 seventeen voting appointed members, along with a representative from the
3 department of environmental conservation, the department of agriculture
4 and markets, the office of children and family services, the department
5 of labor, the department of health, the division of housing and communi-
6 ty renewal, the office of addiction services and supports, and the
7 department of education, serving as non-voting ex-officio members. The
8 governor shall have [seven] eleven appointments, the temporary president
9 of the senate and the speaker of the assembly shall each have three
10 appointments to the board. The members shall be appointed to each serve
11 three year terms and in the event of a vacancy, the vacancy shall be
12 filled in the manner of the original appointment for the remainder of
13 the term. The appointed members and representatives shall receive no
14 compensation for their services but shall be allowed their actual and
15 necessary expenses incurred in the performance of their duties as board
16 members.
17 3. Advisory board members shall have statewide geographic represen-
18 tation that is balanced and diverse in its composition. Appointed
19 members shall have an expertise in public and behavioral health,
20 substance use disorder treatment, effective rehabilitative treatment for
21 adults and juveniles, homelessness and housing, economic development,
22 environmental conservation, job training and placement, criminal
23 justice, and drug policy. Further, the advisory board shall include
24 residents, one retailer, one certified patient, one service disabled
25 veteran, and one supply tier licensee from communities most impacted by
26 cannabis prohibition, people with prior drug convictions, the formerly
27 incarcerated, and representatives from the farming industry, cannabis
28 industry, and organizations serving communities impacted by past federal
29 and state drug policies.
30 § 4. Paragraph (c) of subdivision 3 of section 99-ii of the state
31 finance law, as added by chapter 92 of the laws of 2021, is amended to
32 read as follows:
33 (c) Actual and necessary costs incurred by the office of cannabis
34 management and the cannabis control board, and the urban development
35 corporation, related to the administration of incubators and other
36 assistance to qualified social and economic equity applicants including
37 the administration, capitalization, and provision of low and zero inter-
38 est loans to such applicants [pursuant to], including the conditional
39 adult-use retail dispensary licensees. The office of cannabis management
40 shall administer these resources in accordance with the social equity
41 and economic plan mandated pursuant to article four of the cannabis law
42 and in accordance with section sixteen-ee of the urban development
43 corporation act. Such costs shall be paid out of revenues received,
44 including, but not limited to, from special one-time fees paid by regis-
45 tered organizations pursuant to section sixty-three of the cannabis law.
46 § 5. Section 39 of the cannabis law is amended to read as follows:
47 § 39. Registered organizations and adult-use cannabis. The board shall
48 [have the authority to] grant [some or all of the] registered organiza-
49 tions [registered with the department of health and] currently regis-
50 tered and in good standing with the office, the ability to obtain
51 adult-use cannabis licenses pursuant to article four of this chapter and
52 subject to any [fees, rules or conditions] regulation prescribed by the
53 board [in regulation].
54 § 6. Subdivision 1-a of section 63 of the cannabis law is amended to
55 read as follows:
A. 7646 3
1 1-a. The [board shall also have the authority to assess a registered
2 organization with a] one-time special licensing fee for a registered
3 organization adult-use cultivator processor, distributor retail dispen-
4 sary [license. Such fee shall be assessed at an amount to adequately]
5 licensed pursuant to section sixty-eight-a of this article, shall be
6 twenty million dollars, an amount to be used exclusively to fund social
7 and economic equity and incubator assistance pursuant to this article
8 and paragraph (c) of subdivision three of section ninety-nine-ii of the
9 state finance law. Five million dollars of such fee shall be payable
10 upon licensure, and one million dollars thereafter within thirty days of
11 each twenty million dollars in revenue generated by such licensee until
12 paid in full, or such obligation expires on December thirty-first, two
13 thousand thirty-two, whichever occurs first. At least fifty percent of
14 the total fees collected shall be administered by the office as grants
15 or zero or low interest loans to the conditional adult-use retail
16 dispensary licensees. Conditional adult-use retail dispensary licensees
17 who accept zero or low interest loans shall be allowed to prepay such
18 loans without penalty. Provided, however, that the board shall not allow
19 registered organizations to dispense adult-use cannabis from more than
20 three of their medical cannabis dispensing locations. [The timing and
21 manner in which registered organizations may be granted such authority
22 shall be determined by the board in regulation.] An eligible registered
23 organization shall be authorized as a registered organization adult-use
24 cultivator processor distributor retail dispensary pursuant to section
25 sixty-eight-a of this article upon approval of an application to the
26 office that must be available to such registered organizations no later
27 than August first, two thousand twenty-five and remain available there-
28 after. The office must approve or deny such application within thirty
29 days of its submission or it shall be deemed approved. A registered
30 organization adult-use cultivator processor distributor retail dispen-
31 sary licensee shall be authorized to cultivate, process, and distribute
32 in the adult-use cannabis market, provided however, that each licensee's
33 first co-located dispensary shall not offer adult-use cannabis for
34 retail sale until or after December twenty-ninth, two thousand twenty-
35 five; the second co-located dispensary shall not offer adult-use canna-
36 bis for retail sale until or after January first, two thousand twenty-
37 six; and the third co-located dispensary shall not offer adult-use
38 cannabis for retail sale until or after April first, two thousand twen-
39 ty-six. These licensees must submit a plan to the office demonstrating
40 their commitment to diversifying the co-located dispensary shelf space
41 for adult-use with cannabis products from adult-use cultivators and
42 processors licensed pursuant to sections sixty-eight, sixty-eight-b,
43 sixty-eight-c, sixty-nine, sixty-nine-a, seventy, and seventy-three of
44 this article in accordance with any regulations promulgated by the
45 board.
46 § 7. Subdivision 6 of section 72 of the cannabis law is amended to
47 read as follows:
48 6. No cannabis retail licensee shall locate a storefront within five
49 hundred feet of a school grounds as such term is defined in the educa-
50 tion law or within two hundred feet of a house of worship. The board
51 and/or office shall not establish additional setback requirements.
52 § 8. The cannabis law is amended by adding a new section 85-a to read
53 as follows:
54 § 85-a. Provisions governing conditional adult-use retail dispensary
55 licenses. 1. The office shall approve, deny, or request additional
56 information in regards to a conditional adult-use retail dispensary
A. 7646 4
1 licensee's submission for location approvals within thirty days of
2 receipt or the location request shall be automatically approved so long
3 as it complies with the setback requirements of this chapter.
4 2. The office and dormitory authority shall make the list of addresses
5 for any executed lease agreements entered into and potentially available
6 to eligible conditional adult-use retail dispensary licensees publicly
7 available on their websites, and upon request. Such list shall be
8 updated each week to maximize the transparency for retail dispensary
9 licensees securing store locations and shall not include or block any
10 locations without an executed lease.
11 § 9. This act shall take effect immediately.
