BUFFALO, N.Y. — Hours and hours of testimony were heard during the first-ever joint public hearing of the New York State Senate's Sub-Committee on Cannabis Monday.
The hearing was called to "examine the issues" with the state's market when it comes to consumer accessibility and the retail sale of legal adult-use cannabis, which have been well documented.
Witnesses were spread across 13 panels and included officials from the Office of Cannabis Management (OCM), the Cannabis Advisory Board, the State Dormitory Authority, and other state entities, as well as, numerous industry players, and licensed cannabis business owners.
OCM Executive Director Chris Alexander acknowledged many of the issues occurring across the state during his opening remarks Monday but also expressed optimism about fixing them.
"There is so much more to do," said Alexander.
"This transition has been a painful one for so many but I and my team will continue to do the hard things and will continue fighting to ensure that New York's cannabis market becomes what we all know that it can be," he added.
Alexander and other OCM officials were peppered with questions from state lawmakers who asked about issues like the low number of legal dispensaries open, the overwhelming number of illegal operations, the state's legal challenges, struggling farmers, and enforcement. The list goes on.
"What do we need to do because clearly whatever we did isn't really working," said State Senator Liz Krueger.
"Do you think a recovery fund for cannabis farmers who are struggling from this initial rollout is important?" asked State Senator Michelle Hinchey.
Answers were few and far between and overall the back and forth with OCM officials focused on what they are doing and what still needs to be done to right the cannabis ship, so to speak.
"I think there are quite a few points we can fine-tune things to really get to the heart of the matter to get the results that everyone in the state wants," said OCM Enforcement Director Daniel Haughney.
Enforcement was one particular area where state senators including James Skoufis placed a lot of focus.
Skoufis expressed his concern Monday that of the almost 300 enforcement actions taken by OCM against illegal cannabis operations, Alexander said only 16 have resulted in fines.
That number does not include closures due to nuisance law, 16A of the state's cannabis law, and other enforcement actions like getting landlords to kick illegal retailers out, OCM's executive director clarified.
"As a lay person here, certainly as a lawmaker that seems like a startlingly low number given the fact that we've recognized there are thousands of these shops around the state and the enforcement powers have been in place since June," said State Senator Skoufis.
Officials stated several times that their enforcement actions have been hampered by limited staffing which includes the stoppage of enforcement hearings where fines and penalties are recommended for illegal sales.
State Senator Sean Ryan asked Alexander if he thought it was too late to "put the genie back into the bottle" and have a successful regulated marijuana market.
He responded: "No, not without greater coordination. As I said this is all hands on deck."
Alexander added that OCM's primary goal is to open more legal stores despite ongoing issues.
"When there's a strangle on one side of that supply chain everybody is impacted," he said.
By later Monday evening, business owners and industry leaders offered their testimony and answered questions from a similar although smaller panel of state senators.
License holders shared stories about being left in the dark by the Office of Cannabis Management amid legal challenges to the state's initial Conditional Adult-Use Retail Dispensary licensing program.
"They [OCM] don't tell you anything. I have a CAURD license, I have a lease that I pay 10 thousand dollars a month. I have nothing. At some point, I'm going to be broke and I'm trying to hold on," said 4 Jays LLC licensee Rick Burton.
Others expressed concern about illegal cannabis getting into the legal pipeline and others said New York has become the joke of the cannabis world, succeeding California in that department.
"While we applaud the OCM for their effort we do not share their enthusiasm for what has been executed thus far and nor are we excited for the future of the cannabis market in New York without real substantive change," said Bristol Extracts LLC. founder and CEO Eric Blazak.
Towards the end of the hearing after over 7 hours of testimony, while it remained unclear to viewers what immediate actions could be taken or whether lawmakers would have to act in the upcoming legislative session one theme became evident.
Monday's testimony and the people who offered it were likely to become crucial tools in trying to fix the numerous perceived and actual issues with New York's cannabis market.