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How state lawmakers hope to jump-start growing with conditional cannabis licensing

While the State Office of Cannabis Management continues to put together licensing information, some lawmakers hope a new bill could jump-start hemp growers.

BUFFALO, N.Y. — New York State lawmakers are trying to make sure that cannabis retailers have products to sell once businesses for recreational marijuana can open.

While the State Office of Cannabis Management continues to put together licensing information, a group of lawmakers in the State Assembly and Senate have proposed a new bill that could jump-start hemp growers.

Both Assembly Bill A2682A and Senate Bill S8084A propose the use of "conditional adult-use cultivator licenses" that would give cannabis-adjacent growers the ability to plant and process recreational marijuana.

"It provides a conditional license to make sure when licensing is in place that equity business will have a product to put on their shelves," Assembly Speaker Crystal Peoples-Stokes said.

Peoples-Stokes is a sponsor for the Assembly's bills.

The legislation would require applicants to already have a valid industrial hemp grower authorization from the department of agriculture and markets, as of December 31, 2021, and be authorized to grow cannabinoid hemp.

The applicant would also have to be in "good standing" with the state and have grown and harvested hemp for at least two of the past four years pursuant to that license and be able to provide proof.

Other requirements are listed in this draft of the legislation:

"As we know, the growing season is limited and we need to have seed in the ground by May, so I suspect this legislation will pass much before May," Peoples-Stokes added.

If the bill becomes law, these licenses would eventually expire and require growers to reapply and get a full license once they exist.

You can read the legislation below:

    

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