As goes New York goes, so goes the world.
A few months ago, Governor Andrew Cuomo signed New York’s Senate Bill S854A, the Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act (MRTA), legalizing adult-use cannabis in New York. Despite having just passed, the MRTA has already positioned New York at the center of the legal cannabis movement.
While California’s legalization in 1996 initially pushed states towards legalization, New York, and more specifically New York City, has the power to normalize legal cannabis, move the government towards federal legalization, and catalyze the global cannabis legalization movement. As the country’s most populous city and the U.S.’s cultural, financial, and media capital, New York City shapes the future of all sorts of industries. And its role in cannabis will be no different.
Through the MRTA, New York’s market has the potential to shape the country’s cannabis industry, with the following factors leading the way.
Social equity
The New York legislature passed the MRTA, which is the most progressive state-wide cannabis legislation passed to date. A prominent element of the bill is provisions that support social equity, which aims to create a more diverse and inclusive cannabis industry. The MRTA mandates that 50% of license holders, and a certain percentage of employees, represent people from communities of color that were negatively impacted by the War on Drugs, along with other underrepresented groups like women and veterans. While regulations still have to be written and approved, the bill itself lays the groundwork for repairing communities damaged by the war on drugs by empowering a diverse group of people to participate in this growing legal industry.
Social consumption
One of the exciting surprises of this bill was that it embraced the concept of “social consumption” lounges, which is essentially a public place for adults 21 and older to consume cannabis and perhaps enjoy some food or entertainment while they do it.
This is how it should be, as those spaces already exist en masse serving other regulated products like alcohol on site, and we call them bars, restaurants, hotels, and venues. All of these spaces should have an opportunity to involve cannabis in their approach to hospitality. With the rise of cannabis-infused beverages, a social consumption lounge doesn’t have to look or feel anything like a smoke-filled Amsterdam coffee shop— although those are great as well!
NYC will lead the globe in social consumption, with cannabis-infused experiences and entertainment and participation from a multi-disciplinary group of professionals. Imagine a night out in the East Village enjoying artisan cannabis cocktails from Death + Co and then taking in a lightly infused dinner followed by an outdoor jazz concert to enjoy low dose THC pre-rolls optimized for musical enjoyment. The possibilities are endless.
Delivery
Tens of billions of dollars of food and other CPG goods are delivered by courier, usually on a bicycle, in New York City every year. In addition, the city of New York consumes more cannabis – almost all of it from the underground market – than any other city in the world. You couldn’t have a robust social equity bill without delivery right out of the gates – as the physical density of the city and low startup costs make it an attractive opportunity for achieving the promise…
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