New York’s OCM Forced To Answer Questions About Illegal Shops
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Unlicensed (and therefore illegal) shops frequently utilize out-of-state product
State senators in Albany questioned various cannabis stakeholders on October 30, including officials from the Office of Cannabis Management (OCM).
Governor Kathy Hochul has recently made a spate of new licenses available, which the assembled guests seized on as a potential vehicle to compete with both illegal shops and unregulated weed.
Only marijuana grown by New York farmers is eligible to be sold in licensed cannabis shops, due to federal interstate commerce laws. Unlicensed (and therefore illegal) shops frequently utilize out-of-state product, preventing local communities and growers from getting a toehold in the market.
“This is a supply chain that we’ve created. When there’s a strangle on one side of that supply chain, everybody is impacted. That is why we’re issuing more licenses, to get more stores open, so that the product has a continued flow-through,” OCM Executive Chair Chris Alexander said.
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