Brad Racino
@bradracino
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Editor/Publisher: @advancemediany / @NYCannaInsider Managing Producer, Business: @syracusedotcom Past: @inewsource
Syracuse, NY
Joined April 2010
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Here's an unsolicited thread of how things are going in NY cannabis:
1. At this point, there should have been at least 60 CAURD stores open across NYS, according to
@GovKathyHochul
. There are four, and only one of them is a justice-involved licensee.
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We bought the eight highest-potency strains of recreational cannabis available in NYS on Feb. 24, drove them straight to a state-certified laboratory, placed them in anonymized Ziploc bags and submitted them for potency testing. Here's what happened next.
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Can't say this enough: I am not in the cannabis industry. I'm in the journalism industry. The amount of people trying to call me out for not being "supportive" of this or that cause is mind-numbing.
You shouldn't want me to be supportive.
You should want me to be a journalist.
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When we started
@NYCannaInsider
, I made a promise to always hold government agencies and powerful interests accountable; look out for the use of taxpayer dollars; and amplify underrepresented voices. I believe our story this morning does all three.
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2. By the end of this month,
@GovKathyHochul
's state budget projected to have garnered $56 million from adult-use cannabis taxes. We don't know the current number, but collection data shows the state received $20,000 in taxes in January.
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3. At this point in time, the $200M social equity fund was supposed to have been fully funded – for the past six months. Instead,
@NYS_DASNY
's fund manager has raised $0. And they've spent $3M of the state's $50M pledge for CAURD.
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4. Right now, cultivators are deciding whether to plant again for this year's harvest. With nowhere to sell their product now (see point
#1
), and no new CAURD licenses being awarded until, at the earliest, next month, this is a risky bet.
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Here's my monthly unsolicited thread of how things are going in NY cannabis as of May 1, 2023.
At this point ... 🧵
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“A minimum of three growers and a retailer can organize events where growers can sell flower and pre rolls … and do so through a retailer, but at non-storefront locations."
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Our new series is simple: I will be publishing the same story, with an updated count, every day that DASNY does not turn over these documents.
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There's going to be a "rally to save the cannabis industry" tomorrow at 12pm outside Gov. Hochul’s office at 633 3rd Ave in NYC. The rally is to demand Hochul "immediately open the adult-use license application process."
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"It feels like we’re being set up to fail, to be honest, because none of us have tens of millions of dollars to throw up a greenhouse right away to be able to compete with the MSO’s." h/t
@Johnschroyer
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6. The OCM's social equity plan is supposed to define a bunch of things, including what social equity actually means in the NY marketplace. That plan should have been published by Jan. 1. It is still not published.
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5. The state's medical program is still bleeding patients. Over the past month, the state lost more than 1,400 registered patients. It's now down to 121,167 as of March 1.
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Big Story: NY Cannabis Insider has learned that the two high-profile individuals selected to manage a $200M state cannabis fund may hold significant conflicts of interest that could place NY's social equity-focused rollout in precarious ethical waters.
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This shouldn't come as a surprise to those who've been reading along, but here it is.
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I've never seen a public comment period like today's at the CCB meeting.
2.5 hours, dozens and dozens of people all pleading with the state to fix the mess. I'll admit – I teared up at a couple points.
What a job NY had ahead to roll out this industry the way it was promised.
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As journalists, we often talk about what's wrong with city government. I just want to point out that
@SDCityClerk
is damn good at her job and is always a pleasure to work with. That is all.
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Here's how things are going in NY cannabis as of June 5, 2023. 🧵
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In the wake of our recent story about NY banning cannabis billboards (but the state still allowing alcohol to be advertised everywhere), I asked ChatGPT-4 to compare the risks of alcohol vs cannabis to public health. Here we go (these are all direct quotes):
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Five months ago, I requested some pretty standard records from
@nys_cannabis
. They just denied my request. Here's their denial. Notice anything ... missing?
😁
(Yes, I will be appealing)
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If I were to show up this late, for this many meetings in a row over two years, I would be fired.
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1
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Damian Fagon, the
@nys_cannabis
chief equity officer, was placed on leave last week, according to an agency spokesperson. The move follows a
@NYCannaInsider
investigation from
@ParnellWesley
about allegations of retaliation and selective enforcement.
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12
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Smacked will be the first CAURD store to open outside of the nonprofit Housing Works dispensary. Hearing a timeline of this Friday to middle of next week for the soft open on Bleecker Street.
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Here's how things are going in NY cannabis as of July 3, 2023. 🧵
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I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say this is still the biggest threat facing the state's rollout ... just spoke to another grower who said NO ONE is passing the tests under current limits. "Then who supplies retail, the MSOs?" he said.
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Carson's speech last week at the DASNY/OCM/CAURD session spread like wildfire through the NY cannabis industry. I wanted to know his thought process going into that meeting, and what happened after.
New for
@NYCannaInsider
.
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Here's my monthly unsolicited thread of how things are going in NY cannabis.
At this point ... 🧵
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True story: I dropped off a sample to a lab for independent testing. Results came in. Lab director asked me what I did was the rest of the product (I bought 1/8th, only needed a gram).
"I still have it," I said.
"Do not smoke that," they said.
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Big news: OCM just eliminated the pass/fail testing requirement for cultivators. Story to come.
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NY Assembly GOP is calling for an audit of the state's cannabis program, citing a "delayed and dysfunctional" implementation.
Assembly Republicans wrote to Gov. Hochul and Comptroller Tom DiNapoli today, calling for an audit of the state’s cannabis program and enforcement plan to address the growing number of illegal stores.
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I've lost count of the number of times this agency was warned by not just attorneys but also people within the industry that what they were doing would be struck down in court.
The millions in taxpayer funding that's been wasted at this point is far, far beyond egregious.
The judge’s ruling on Wednesday dealt a serious blow to the agency’s already troubled industry rollout. It also raises serious questions about the competence and efficacy of New York’s OCM and Cannabis Control Board.
--New from
@SeanPteehan
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Tomorrow morning,
@SenatorCooney
– Chair of the Senate Subcommittee on Cannabis – will announce "a legislative hearing in response to statewide challenges in the legal retail market."
10:45 a.m. Zoom link here:
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OCM just shared a "preview" of its full reg package. There's not a ton here but figured this audience would like to see it.
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Gov. Kathy Hochul has announced every milestone in the state’s legalization efforts, but wouldn’t respond to questions about this. Neither would Sen. Liz Krueger, or Assemblymember Crystal Peoples-Stokes.
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Just gonna live-tweet my reading of this OGS report because, damn.
A 🧵 ...
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One month ago, OCM introduced the idea of cannabis farmers' markets – now called the Growers Showcase – and said the pilot program was expected to launch within a month.
Today, that idea appears dead in the water.
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[PROFESSIONAL UPDATE & thread]: While I'll continue on as editor and publisher of
@NYCannaInsider
in 2024, I'm expanding my role with
@syracusedotcom
to begin covering the "future economy" of New York State: think semiconductors, AI, UAS, and quantum computing ...
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There's a lot to unpack in
@ParnellWesley
's new story about fear and potential retaliation around the
@nys_cannabis
. I'm super proud of Wes and the folks who came forward to help get this article out and to the public.
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I typically shy away from ever using anonymous sources, but in this case, it was warranted. A new story from
@NYCannaInsider
documents the frustrations and fears of a CAURD license winner.
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The judge’s ruling on Wednesday dealt a serious blow to the agency’s already troubled industry rollout. It also raises serious questions about the competence and efficacy of New York’s OCM and Cannabis Control Board.
--New from
@SeanPteehan
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"Several cannabis industry stakeholders say Steck’s proposal to cap THC concentration in flower products at 15% and all other cannabis products at 25% would be immensely disruptive to the market, and demonstrates confusion about the industry."
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Woof. Numbers just came out for February Dept. of Taxation and Finance tax collections for adult-use cannabis. In January, the state got $20,000.
February? ... $7,000.
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It's official.
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How do the higher-ups at OCM/CCB survive this? Super scathing from a judge that seemed to be pretty reserved on first glance.
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I'm aware that this is not what NY's cannabis industry wants to hear right now. But astronomical mold counts + labs continually breaking rules designed to protect consumer health and safety = a recipe for disaster.
“From start to finish, it’s a s***show.”
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OK that's enough from me. We'll have more in a story coming soon. BUT I will leave with this:
-It's terrific news for the state's cannabis industry AND taxpayers that someone (OGS) FINALLY looked into this mess in depth, found problems, and identified solutions.
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DASNY just confirmed to me what
@_chrisroberts
reported 10 days ago -- that the agency still hasn't closed a deal in the $150M cannabis social equity fund. As a refresher, the fund manager (SEIV) was hired eight months ago to start raising the money necessary for CAURD.
Woof.
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-It's been 301 days since DASNY selected Social Equity Impact Ventures to raise $150M for the CAURD program.
-It's been 230 days since SEIV was supposed to have raised the money.
--Yet no one in power will address this unbelievably gigantic elephant pooping all over the room.
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Well – I've emailed and I've called, and emailed and called again ... and for the life of me I can't get an interview with
@leezeldin
about what he'd do to the state's cannabis industry if he wins the election.
Sorry. That would've been a good story.
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[Here come the unfollows] Today is my last day
@inewsource
. It's been a wild nine years(!!!) and I will miss my colleagues, friends and this region terribly. My wife, child, dog and I are headed back to NY to be closer to family (THREAD).
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Second Circuit Court has just lifted the CAURD license injunction in four of the five regions:
"The district court’s injunction is modified so that it bars the issuance of conditional adult-use retail cannabis dispensary licenses only in the Finger Lakes region."
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Another lawsuit against the OCM and CCB, this time from the hemp industry over the recent ban on 15:1 beverages.
I’m losing count at this point.
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Judge Bryant just decided not to exempt any of the 30 CAURDs because OCM screwed up again.
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Woof. This might be the harshest couple lines in Judge Bryant's order:
"It was Defendants that decided to move forward and accelerate the CAURD program in the face of unresolved litigation and they were undeniably on notice of the alleged constitutional defects at issue ..."
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8
37
After a 60-day public comment period,
@nys_cannabis
just released its new proposed Conditional Adult-Use Retail Dispensary regulations, to be voted on at tomorrow's meeting. I compared the new regs with the old ones and there are zero changes. No public feedback was incorporated.
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Me: "I'm formally requesting an interview with
@GovKathyHochul
at her convenience, any time, any day. Can you please relay the message?"
Them:
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36
I was asked to break down what’s happening as of Aug. 25 in NY’s cannabis industry. Apologies up front for the doom and gloom, but … just being honest.
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“It’s not a great look to elevate someone who continues to do a run-around of the law."
Another strong story from
@SeanPteehan
about how those not playing by OCM's rules are often rewarded – to the detriment of those operating above board.
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5
36
OCM is setting up a framework for cannabis farmers' markets. Minimum three growers + retailer.
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Senator Cooney announces a legislative hearing will take place on Oct. 30 at 11 a.m. in Albany regarding NY's cannabis "to finally address the many challenges we have seen with the rollout of adult-use cannabis here in New York."
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NY's $150M cannabis social equity fund is officially funded by Chicago Atlantic, one year after the fund's formation. This money is for CAURD licensees to help them build out dispensaries. Story to come.
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"I see many groups coming forward to speak their minds about the tumultuous rollout and I’d like to share with you how far the damage trickles down past the licensed cultivators and processors – and the mess it’s causing."
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Here's OCM's plan to jump start sales: "Until matched with a DASNY location, the Office will allow CAURD licensees to fulfill delivery orders from a location obtained by the licensee that has been approved by the Office."
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I'm no attorney.
But that was ... not good for the state.
Highly uncomfortable to even watch virtually.
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I just sent ChatGPT two massive spreadsheets of data and asked it to find me trends and key takeaways. It did. Then I asked it to compare the spreadsheets to publicly available data from other states, and it did. This ... is ... just ... ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous.
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Numbers for NYS cannabis retail tax collections are out for March: legal sales generated $1.18 million in adult-use taxes.
16
6
33
Another day, another lawsuit against
@nys_cannabis
. This time, four service-disabled veterans are suing the agency over its "unconstitutional foray into legislative policymaking in violation of New York’s separation of
powers doctrine." (CAURD).
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33
Genuine question: why isn't there a central repository for COAs – like a web portal – that would allow consumers to browse, filter by terpenes, microbe levels, THC levels, etc.? The OCM has all of them. Make 'em public, let a company build something cool out of them. APIs, etc.
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Please - PLEASE - read this retraction demand to
@megnwd
's recent investigation and our response. It's glorious.
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Here's how things are going in NY cannabis as of Sept. 6, 2023.🧵
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Today, I'm publishing a list of the major questions that DASNY has refused to answer over the past year. Because why not.
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We're out with this new investigation today and I'd really like to talk about it (thread).
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An update: This did not pass last night, so it's dead until '23 unless a special session is called.
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32
A must-read story:
"This is my point. You don’t want me to be successful. You’re setting me up to fail so that way you can come in and swoop and take the license out from under me. And you say, ‘We did our part, social-equity wise. We tried.’
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Pointed out by Paula Collins in a new guest column coming tomorrow that NYC City Council now says the # of unlicensed shops is way higher than before: "It is estimated that New York City is home to approximately 8,000 illegal, unlicensed smoke shops."
.
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Hearing that OCM is sticking with the $20-million-per-RO fee, and ROs won't be allowed to sell recreational for three years. We'll see what comes out in the regs on Monday.
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📢📢 Breaking news:
@SenatorCooney
's push to disentangle 280E from NY cannabis businesses has made its way into the final version of the NYS budget. Need a refresher? Here's our story on 280E from the other week.
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Absolutely zero transparency. The only other agency I’ve covered in my entire career that comes close to this level of obfuscation is the San Diego VA.
@GovKathyHochul
@SenatorCooney
@CPeoplesStokes
@NYS_AM
@LizKrueger
Any NYS politician wanna say … ANYTHING … about this?
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Aaaaaand there it is. DASNY is AGAIN delaying the release of the key documents related to hiring SEIV to manage its $200M social equity fund. This is an obvious effort to block the public’s right to know.
#releasethedocs
@Jason_Weather
@KathyHochul
@nys_cannabis
@AndreaSCousins
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"It’s barely a secret that some licensees who are struggling to generate revenue amid a court-ordered shutdown of new dispensaries are operating in the unlicensed market in New York and other states."
--New from
@SeanPteehan
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7
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OCM changed its rules on March 15 – the same day Jenny Argie was in court fighting the shutdown – but didn’t notify business owners and laboratories about the regulatory shift until last week.
And they never told Jenny.
-Another "wow" from
@ParnellWesley
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9
30
Help me put together a
@NYCannaInsider
panel! I'm looking for an exhaustive list of all the people/nonprofits in NY's cannabis support space. So, who's out there with a mission to help, especially for social-equity folks? Let's get them and their resources in front of a crowd.
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8
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Here's how things are going in NY cannabis as of Aug. 7, 2023.🧵
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“There’s a lot of impact being felt, and none of it is being felt by the key players who are responsible,” Baldwin said. “The people at the OCM are still getting their six-figure salaries.”
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This is the greatest
@KPBSnews
standup intro EVER. Congratulations
@MHoffmam
on blowing it out of the water. Calling
@sdspj
@sdpressclub
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@craignewmark
Hi Craig. I wanted to bring this to your attention (I heard you're a fan of veterans' issues). This is the first in a series we started last month.
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"Shame on the state of New York for being a negligent parent in the first year of its legal cannabis industry. If a parent were to act this way when raising their children, CPS would have stepped in by now."
--new guest column from Colin Decker
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-Not only that, but WHERE IS THE OGS REPORT ON DASNY??? While OCM can (somewhat justifiably) complain about a lack of staffing and/or resources, or cite problems endemic to any startup, DASNY does not have that leg to stand on. And that's where the spotlight needs to focus next.
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NEW: OCM has reversed course and is now allowing CAURD licensees to find and build out their own locations. This after DASNY has apparently been unable to secure locations, or raise the $150 million for the SE fund. Also, delivery guidelines are out.
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11
28
Big, out-of-state brands are breaking NY's cannabis regs. OCM knows, but because they "didn't really expect it," they've been caught flat-footed, according to a leaked audio recording.
A new
@NYCannaInsider
investigation from
@ParnellWesley
is a doozy.
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12
29
NY Medical Cannabis Industry Association just put out a statement saying regs present “a number of serious concerns.”
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Couple things I gotta say after reading Gov. Hochul's admission to
@TheBuffaloNews
that NY's cannabis rollout is a "disaster" (her words, not mine).
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