As we beforehand broadly summarized on December 27, 2022 (right here), in late December 2022, the Workplace of Hashish Administration (“OCM”) launched its first proposed adult-use hashish guidelines and regulation for New York (the “Proposed Rules”). The official document is 282 pages, so we gained’t cowl each element. However we’ll spotlight the big-ticket objects, important points that every one candidates ought to pay attention to, and the license software course of as a complete. This publish will go into element the Social and Financial Fairness sections and commentary offered for within the Proposed Rules. Have in mind, the Proposed Rules are nonetheless pending as OCM receives the ultimate public feedback to the Proposed Rules.
For anybody contemplating making use of for an adult-use license, we reiterate our advice of hiring an skilled, native hashish legal professional. At a minimal, understanding the general framework of the licenses and the licensing course of is a precursor to an in-depth session on a license software.
One of many extra notable matters coated in depth by the Proposed Rules is the institution of a social and financial fairness applicant, and licensee. For those who keep in mind, the Marijuana Regulation and Tax Act (“MRTA”) established a objective to award 50% of all adult-use hashish licenses to social and financial fairness candidates.
Through the analysis of an software, the OCM could prioritize software submission, evaluate, choice and issuance by social and financial fairness standing. These functions that exhibit that the applicant is in search of to qualify as a social and financial fairness licensee are eligible for further precedence.
Briefly, to qualify as a social financial fairness applicant, an applicant should exhibit, by means of documentation offered to the OCM, that that sole management of the applicant is held by both:
- a person from a group disproportionately impacted by the enforcement of hashish prohibition;
- a minority-owned enterprise;
- a women-owned enterprise;
- a distressed farmer; or
- a service-disabled veteran owned enterprise.
The Proposed Rules present for particular paperwork required to ascertain the standing of the social financial applicant, with respect to any of the above.
Observe that “sole management” on this context could also be a misnomer. It doesn’t imply that the applicant is the only proprietor of the license, however that the social and financial fairness applicant workout routines the authority to, amongst different issues: train authority over the enterprise, and materially affect the day-to-day enterprise selections. Additional, no different particular person or individuals could train or have the flexibility to regulate nearly all of voting rights, or take away the applicant.
If, at any time after a social and financial fairness applicant has been granted a license, the Workplace determines that the only management requirement is violated, the Workplace could institute an motion to droop or revoke such license, offered the Workplace gives a possibility to remedy.