Amnesty
Before surfacing and identifying themselves, legacy operators must be free from the risk of prosecution on criminal or tax charges for their past activities. The State of New York can and should grant such amnesty in a manner that does not require the production of information that could be subpoenaed by federal authorities.
Priority
Legacy operators should be offered the first opportunity to enter the legal adult use market, ahead of all other licensee categories. Giving the first mover advantage to the people who built New York’s cannabis market is not only the right thing to do— it is essential to the creation of a healthy, unified market. If corporate cannabis—with higher costs and taxation—attempts to enter first, existing legacy operators will simply out compete them. A divided market will be created like the one in California— where the legacy market is 4x the size of the regulated market— and everybody loses.
Phasing
Phased in regulations offer one option for providing priority to legacy operators. The State of New York should not wait 18 months or longer to create a safe and legal supply of cannabis; it should do what it can, when it can— and not let the perfect be the enemy of the good. Verified legacy operators could be immediately issued provisional licenses on three conditions: passing a criminal background check (violence & hard drugs), lab testing all cannabis that is sold, and paying New York’s cannabis tax. Track and trace, and other requirements for a fully monitored supply chain would be implemented later. In addition to providing legacy operators priority market access, this policy would provide a source of lab
tested cannabis 12-24 months in advance of the current schedule, protecting millions of cannabis consumers from contaminated products.
Support
A public-private partnership should be established to help legacy licensees to address two main challenges: sourcing fair financing to develop their licenses, and acquiring the mainstream business skills they will need to succeed. One way to achieve this end would be creating a public private partnership charged with creating a robust mentorship and training program, arranging non-predatory financing, and ensuring equitable bargaining conditions for legacy licensees. Corporate cannabis companies planning to operate in New York.
Representation
If you don’t have a seat at the table, then you become the meal. The policies outlined above, and other policies beneficial to the legacy cannabis community could be advanced by a representative association of legacy operators. New York’s legacy cannabis operators may want to consider forming such an association.
© 2021 The JUSTÜS Foundation