New York has approved two new state laws expected to boost the state’s legal cannabis market and help marijuana farmers and retailers.
One law revives the Cannabis Growers Showcase program, which allows licensed cannabis growers and processors to showcase cannabis products to consumers at pop up-style events. The other clarifies cannabis as an agriculture crop in the state for which agricultural tax exemptions can be applied.
New York Cannabis Growers Showcases Revived
The Cannabis Growers Showcase (CGS) program first got off the ground in 2023 as the state struggled to implement regulations surrounding 2021’s Marijuana Regulation and Tax Act, which legalized adult-use marijuana in the state. The protracted rollout of the program meant legal retailers were in short supply and marijuana growers had few options to sell their product to state residents.
The program ended on Jan. 1, 2024, but is being reinstituted and extended indefinitely to expand market opportunities for cannabis growers, processors and retailers. The bill recommending the program be revived called it:
“a novel way to partner cultivators with dispensary licensees, so that they could educate the market about their offerings, sell their product, generate much needed income, and provide legal access to consumers who were too distant to legal dispensaries or who didn't want to purchase their cannabis from illicit sources…. By all accounts, the program was a success, bringing cultivators, processors, and retail licensees together in a way where they could directly interact with and educate consumers, build brand recognition, and orient consumers to the legal market's offerings.”
These showcases allow for the sale of various cannabis and cannabinoid hemp products, cannabis paraphernalia, stationary, gifts, or other minor branded merchandise approved by the Office of Cannabis Management; however, no onsite consumption of cannabis products will be permitted.
Only one showcase can be held at a time and the showcases could last up to two weeks. Those who want to host a showcase must apply to the state’s Office of Cannabis Management for a permit. Under the law, permit fees for the events “may be based on the type of cannabis showcase event permit sought, size, length, duration, or any other factors deemed reasonable and appropriate by the board to achieve the policy and purpose of this chapter.”
Agriculture Designation to Help NY Cannabis Growers with Taxes
The second law defines cannabis as an agricultural “crop” under New York’s Agricultural and Markets Law § 301. This distinction will allow growers to seek real property tax exemptions pursuant to Agricultural and Markets Law.
Assessors throughout the state have treated cannabis differently in issuing assessments and the state wanted uniformity.
“Farming is difficult enough in New York State, but for farmers taking the risk of planting a whole new crop, they should not have to face the possibility of having to argue with their local assessor about whether cannabis is a crop,” the justification for the new law states. “Cannabis should be considered an agricultural crop and treated as such, and in the same manner as grapes grown for wine production, hops and malting barley along with grains used by distillers."
