The marijuana industry in New York will be similar to Colorado’s, where nine years after it was legalized there are nearly 1,000 retail stores and small medical marijuana dispensaries spread across that state.
For many people who suffer from conditions such as insomnia, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder or chronic pain, the legislation will also pave the way for easier access — and lower prices — to marijuana therapies that may help them treat their symptoms and avoid the need for synthetic drugs that often come with debilitating side effects or potentially dangerous interactions with other substances.
The Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act passed by the Legislature — and signed into law last week by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo — is largely mirrored after Colorado’ssystem that has enabled small business owners to establish a network of boutique shops and dispensaries that sell everything from small amounts of cannabis to pain creams and edibles.
Unlike some states where a few large dispensaries are spread out geographically and customers drive sometimes long distances to make purchases, New York’s plan is a statewide framework of relatively small retail shops with a focus on awarding licenses in many of the communities where convictions for marijuana-related offenses have been the highest.
Tobacco, alcohol and pharmaceutical companies for years had dispatched lobbyists to ply the Capitol corridors in Albany trying to influence the framing of the legislation, but lawmakers said they beat back that effort and their attempts to seize control of the industry here.
”We modeled it originally on the SLA (state Liquor Authority) and how we do operate liquor stores and bars, and then we kept taking a look at Colorado and go ‘OK,’ we see where they’re making the mistakes and they’re fixing it,” said state Sen. Liz Krueger, a Manhattan Democrat who championed the legislation with Assembly Majority Leader Crystal D. Peoples-Stokes, a Buffal0 Democrat.
The legislation signed by the governor immediately decriminalized the possession of less than three ounces of marijuana — or less than 24 grams of concentrated cannabis — for anyone 21 and older. Possession of amounts higher than that remains a violation and escalates to a felony charge when someone possesses more than 10 pounds of marijuana, or more than four pounds of concentrated cannabis.
The rollout of the regulatory platform, including an Office of Cannabis Management that will award licenses for growing, distributing, processing and selling, is expected to take at least a year to set up. The illegal sale of marijuana will remain a crime, escalating from a violation for selling small amounts to a mid-level felony for selling more than 100 pounds.
Although stigmas remain, the marijuana industry has evolved significantly in the past half-century, and become much more than a vehicle for someone to get “stoned.”
There is a science and expertise in developing the genetics and different strains from around the globe, with advanced cross-breeding techniques that have been used to grow plants that have particular attributes for treating pain, reducing anxiety and medicating those afflicted with diseases ranging from cancer to Parkinson’s Disease .Some strains will relieve anxiety, for instance, but not leave the…
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