“justice involved” requirement for Conditional Adult Use Retail Dispensary regulations, which means that people have to either have a cannabis conviction on their record or have been affected by a family member being convicted for a cannabis-related crime. The idea is that it allows people who have suffered from the criminalization of cannabis to now have the opportunity to benefit from its legalization. “The state wants to see success stories,” Cornwell said. “They want to see people who had a certain lifestyle with this convert it to become much more profitable.” There were shadows of a similar goal written into the legislation in Massachusetts when the commonwealth legalized cannabis in 2017. Cornwell and Batrowny said they want to make sure that New York State is held to higher standards. “We saw what happened in Massachusetts,” Batrowny said. “We know there was a lot of lip service paid to this but it didn’t come to fruition.” Cornwell said they see their role as learning from those mistakes and trying to influence better decision making. As far as what’s going on locally — there’s still a lot up in the air. Freeville resident and Ithaca High School alum Luke Powers is the operations manager of Beak & Skiff research, and said they’re planning to build a 13,000 square-foot beverage facility to make THC beverages in Lafayette. “We’re going to extract THC, fill vapes, do a small line of gummies, and co-pack the THC beverages,” he said. Their THC brand is called Ayrloom, and Powers said
P l a n t s g r ow i n g at E n f i e l d G l e n H o p f i e l d . ( P h o t o : Fac e b o o k) the goal is for it to be as successful as quickly as their brand 1911 was. Their facility will be a processing plant, and Powers said he’s anticipating being granted one of the conditional THC processing licenses. “It’s very special what the NYCPGA is doing,” Powers said. “I don’t think it’s been done anywhere else in the country. They’re trying to really work to make sure the can-
A c u r r e n t p r o d u c t o f P i n e R o s e h e m p fa r m i n Tru m a n s b u r g . ( P h o t o : P r ov i d e d)
nabis industry is going to work with New Yorkers, instead of out-of-state players coming in and taking all the large profits out of it. Growers, processors, retailers and tax revenue is staying in New York State. It’s a big deal.” But while Powers and Beak & Skiff have a pretty solid business plan ready to go, not everyone does. A handful of people who preferred to stay anonymous said they hoped to open a microbusiness, but didn’t have any exact plans. They were still trying to learn about regulations and what might work best for them. Some of those people called themselves “legacy growers,” which basically means they had been illegally growing cannabis in their homes long before it became legal and were now looking to take their talents to market in some capacity. As for what to expect in the city of Ithaca, nothing has been decided quite yet. The goal in 2021 was to prepare legislation at the city level that would fit within state regulations. However, nothing has formally been adopted. Deputy Director of Economic Development Tom Knipe has brought the issue to the Common Council in the past for feedback about recommendations on a cap on the total number of shops, appropriate locations, buffers from places of worship and schoolgrounds, etc. To Cornwell’s point about convincing people to participate legally and issues in Massachusetts, Knipe previously said that one of the criticisms of Massachusetts is that the sales tax is so high that it drives the price of state-controlled cannabis up, providing an incentive to the black mar-
ket. The New York tax plan includes a 4% state sales tax and then municipalities can pass local sales tax, which Knipe cautioned against setting too high. There has been subsequent discussion and interest expressed about the desire to get something on the books regarding cannabis retail specifically, but so far this has not been done. People have long been approaching Knipe and the city for the purpose of opening shops, but the licensing program is fully through the state. So far, the following Tompkins County businesses have received conditional cultivator licenses from the state: • Enfield Glen Hopyard LLC • Mary L Strassheim • Ithaca Organics, LLC • Glass House Farms, LLC • Pine Rose 420 LLC Some of these operators, such as Ithaca Organics and Pine Rose Farm, have already been growing and distributing CBD products. For others, like Glass House Farm, this seems to be a foray into a new business, as they currently mainly focus on different types of lettuce. Conditional license holders can begin growing cannabis outdoors or in a greenhouse with up to 20 artificial lights, and provisional license holders will have to apply for full licenses by June 1. Temporary licenses expire June 30, 2024. Cannabis Control Board Chair Tremaine Wright predicted that cannabis grown by these operators will be available in conditionally licensed dispensaries by the fall.
MAY 25–31, 2022
/ THE ITHACA TIMES
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