In A Pot Twist, NY Regulators Sued For Violating Their Own Laws Over Cannabis

New York's Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) is being sued by the Coalition for Access to Regulated and Safe Cannabis (CARSC), for allegedly violating the Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act (MRTA).

What happened

In the complaint, filed Thursday in Albany County Supreme court, the coalition argues unconstitutional actions that put New Yorkers’ health and safety at risk, writes Syracuse.com.

The group alleges that both OCM and the Cannabis Control Board (CCB) violated the legalization law when they reserved the first 150 adult-use retail licenses for social equity applicants. CARSC is now asking a judge to order state lawmakers to open up licensing for all retail dispensary applicants immediately.

What is CARSC?

The coalition describes itself as an “unincorporated trade association” comprised of organizations and physicians whose practices were negatively affected because of the state’s “neglect” of its medical marijuana program and parties that were seeking to acquire a dispensary license.

According to Syracuse.com, at least four large cannabis companies are part of the group, including Acreage Holdings ACRHF, Curaleaf Holdings Inc CURLF, Green Thumb Industries Inc GTBIF, and PharmaCann.

As per a memo filed with the lawsuit, the regulatory cannabis boards “overstepped their rule-making authority,” and as a result, it “indefinitely postponed the licensing of the hundreds of additional dispensaries necessary to satisfy consumer demand and to displace the illicit markets.”

“Rather than perform the tasks required by the MRTA – which would promote a safe and regulated cannabis industry for medical patients and adult-use consumers alike – CCB and OCM have improperly assumed the role of the Legislature to impose their own policies over those of New York’s elected officials and, by extension, their constituents,” the lawsuit alleges.

Photo: Benzinga edit with images by Kindel Media on Pixabay and Quintin Gellar on Pexels