Supporters of legalizing marijuana say it will be a boon to government tax revenue and jobs. But in New York, cannabis farmers say the Office of Cannabis Management, the state regulator that oversees the creation of a legal cannabis market, threatens to crush the industry with its rollout. disastrous.”

In a trial Filed in Onondaga County Supreme Court, the Cannabis Farmers Alliance alleged that OCM and the Cannabis Control Board had done a “disastrous” job of issuing licenses to farmers and opening new retail locations for so that producers can sell their products.

New York legalized recreational marijuana in 2021. In the three years since, 156 stores have opened statewide, far fewer than expected. On the other hand, Michigan, with a population half that of New York, has more than 800 dispensaries.

Pot growers who obtained a license began their cultivation operations in hopes of being able to sell their crops to more places. However, due to the slow pace of store openings, the lawsuit says farmers are facing “serious financial hardship.”

The CFA says 97 percent of small cannabis operations “operate at a loss, nearly two-thirds have a profit margin of less than 1 percent, and more than 90 percent require operating funds to maintain solvency.”

“Without help, the industry risks collapse,” the complaint warns.

The CFA also alleges that the state has failed to meet its goal of providing half of its licenses to “social and economic equity” applicants. Candidates who would fall below this category includes “women, people of color, disabled veterans, distressed farmers, and residents of these crowded communities.”

However, the cannabis producers’ lawsuit said the CMO has “given free rein to other entities and groups of licensees to dominate the market, in flagrant violation of cannabis laws.” The group also challenges the state’s decision to continue issuing new licenses to growers, even as existing farmers struggle financially.

The OCM declined to comment on the lawsuit.

A DWI attorney, Dean DiPalato, said CBS 6 in Albany: “Now that they’re handing out licenses, they’re handing them out willy-nilly. They don’t pay attention to the little guy.

“The farms will not survive. The health consequences for these people have been terrible, beyond anxiety and depression,” he added.

He accused the state of letting producers acquire different types of licenses so they can acquire “a larger share of the agricultural market at the expense of these small farmers, and the CMO knows this is happening and has nothing to do with it.” done to remedy this.

The CFA lawsuit also says the state failed to comply with the requirement to “implement a functional and affordable seed-to-sale tracking system, market monitoring and stabilization, and a regulatory framework designed to protect authorized operators against unfair competition and market dysfunctions. »

The producers are requesting a declaratory judgment against the OCM and an injunction that would force it to respect the obligations they believe it is not respecting.

Growers and other cannabis organizations have long-standing issues with the CMO. In September, the agency’s director of equity, Damian Fagon, resigned after an inspector general investigation concluded a probe into whether he targeted licensees who were critical of the agency, even though the probe found no evidence proving he violated the CMO policy.

In May, OCM Executive Director Chris Alexander announcement his resignation amid tensions with Gov. Hochul, who said the agency’s rollout of legalized marijuana had been a “disaster.” Ms. Hochul’s office released a scathing report criticizing the agency’s leadership and the inefficiency of the license approval process.

In addition to the unrest within management, the OCM has been faced with a series of disputes concerning its social equity. aim for licenses and allegations it was engaged in “illegal or unconstitutional disbursements of public funds.”

While small pot growers struggle to make ends meet by complying with state regulations, there are likely still thousands of illegal sellers in the state. New York State Illegal Cannabis Task Force Closed around 1,000 illegal sellers this year. However, officials estimated there were 4,000 unlicensed sellers in New York alone before the task force stepped up its controls, and they believe there are still thousands operating.