High priority: marijuana law violators first in line on pot licenses - Washington Times Herald
ALBANY — Gov. Kathleen Hochul praised state cannabis regulators Thursday for deciding to give high priority treatment to applicants for retail pot store licenses who have criminal records for marijuana offenses.
Under a plan embraced by the Cannabis Control Board, would-be shop operators who have clean records would have to wait for the regulators to issue the initial round of store licenses to those who either have marijuana convictions or have family members with marijuana convictions before their applications are processed.
In addition to having a record for pot convictions, the applicants in the top priority batch would need to demonstrate they are running a profitable business either operating in New York or having a connection to the state. But if they have criminal records that go beyond marijuana convictions, they could be knocked out of contention.
Hochul called the "equity" goals of the board "a major step forward in righting the wrongs of the past."
What New York is billing as the “Equity Owners Lead Program” is an effort by the state government to lend a helping hand to communities that have been most heavily affected by the war on drugs. Advocates argue that police for years had targeted Black and Latino neighborhoods for marijuana enforcement, producing arrest totals that dwarfed those of prosecutions of White individuals.
The Cannabis Control Board also decided that beginning March 15 it will accept license applications from hemp farmers seeking to cultivate marijuana this spring.
At a press conference, Chris Alexander, the executive director of the control board, said the proposed regulations reflect the intentions of the Legislature.
"We believe that the actions that we're taking are fully aligned with the law that has been written and in line with the spirit and the intent of the cannabis law," Alexander said in response to a CNHI query.
The draft regulations, which will now be put out for public comment, were immediately criticized by the head of the state Conservative Party, two upstate sheriffs and Assembly Member Chris Tague, R-Schoharie, whose district includes several farming operations that have been eying cannabis cultivation licenses.
"You know the old saying, 'Crime doesn't pay?,'" Tague told CNHI. "Well, in this case it does."
The assemblyman added: "When they originally came out with this — Governor Cuomo first and then Governor Hochul, with the Democratic leaders of the Legislature — they pushed this as something that was going to help farmers. But there are no farmers in line now to get any of these licenses."
State officials said they expect the first shops to open before the end of this year. Some marijuana shops have already opened at the St. Regis Mohawk Reservation, but they are not being regulated by the state government.
Clinton County Sheriff David Favro suggested the cannabis regulators should rethink the message they are sending to society by steering to the express line those who broke marijuana laws while cannabis was prohibited.
"If they continue on the track they are going on right now, pretty soon there is going to be very little incentive in anybody's life to obey the laws and stay on the straight and narrow path," Favro said. "They keep talking about discrimination and equities. But when you have someone who has not been arrested and they are a business entrepreneur who sees a good avenue here, they're not going to be the first to be eligible because they do not have a conviction in their past. It makes no sense whatsoever."
As part of her $216 billion proposed state budget, Hochul is asking lawmakers to approve a $200 million private-public fund dubbed the New York Social Equity Cannabis Investment Program.
The Dormitory Authority of the State of New York is now poised to offer its leasing and construction services to cannabis dispensaries and renovate the buildings to ensure they meet health, safety and security standards.
Delaware County Sheriff Craig DuMond questioned why state leaders are eager to give special treatment to those who had violated the marijuana laws as they existed.
"Only in New York, where we have this hug-a-thug mentality that brought us bail reform, would they give privilege for a license to people who broke the law over people who complied with the laws all the time," DuMond said. "I don't know where they come up with this stuff."
The goals of the program were defended by Assembly Member Crystal Peoples Stokes, D-Buffalo, who was one of the architects of legalizing marijuana. She said the initial licenses will go to the "most deserving New Yorkers," noting New York was focused on those "most criminalized" by prohibition.
But State Conservative Party Chairman Gerard Kassar said the state government is setting up a "prejudicial system of permitting" whose legality is questionable.
"What you're dealing with here is a determination that there was some form of prejudice against these individuals and the government is coming up with its own financial remedy that works against the interests of other individuals who are blameless," Kassar said.
Reuben McDaniel III, a cannabis board member and CEO of the state Dormitory Authority, said in a statement: "Our work to create the new cannabis industry in New York is structured to develop successful entrepreneurs in Black and Brown communities across New York, expand access to capital for those who have been denied, and establish a cannabis industry that leads the nation in health and safety, and in equity, as well."
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source: https://www.washtimesherald.com/cnhi_network/high-priority-marijuana-law-violators-first-in-line-on-pot-licenses/article_5937fe3c-fb50-5fc3-9c28-6e7629d99b8c.html
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