'Time For Course Correction': Activists Urge NY Gov. Hochul To Open Up Rec Program

A so-called "unincorporated trade association" gathered outside the Manhattan office of New York Gov. Kathy Hochul to protest the slow rollout of New York's recreational cannabis market.

What Happened: The Coalition for Access to Regulated and Safe Cannabis (CARSC) protested in New York this week, chanting "Open up the program!" as it demanded the state issue additional marijuana business licenses.

At least four large cannabis companies are in the group, including Acreage Holdings, Inc ACRHF, Curaleaf Holdings, Inc. CURA CURLF, Green Thumb Industries Inc. GTBIF and PharmaCann.

The organization also represents farmers, social equity retailers, and other stakeholders.

The news, reported by Hell Gate, comes on the heels of CARSC's filing a lawsuit against New York's Office of Cannabis Management in March for allegedly violating the state's legalization law.

The coalition, comprised of organizations and physicians, claim practices were negatively affected due to the state's "neglect" of its medical marijuana program and difficulties in acquiring a dispensary license.

In a lawsuit filed in March in Albany County Supreme Court, the coalition called a joint move by OCM and the Cannabis Control Board (CCB) to reserve the first 150 adult-use retail licenses for social equity applicants — CAURD licensees — a violation of the Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act (MRTA).

The next hearing for the lawsuit is scheduled for Aug. 4.

Activists Get Loud

"We're here to say that the governor must step up and provide leadership in an industry that has taken a wrong turn," Kirsten John Foy, a spokesperson for the coalition, said on Wednesday. "It's time for a course correction. We need to have the community seizing the opportunities, not being blocked by regulators. We need to open up all the programs that are locked by the regulators who are picking and choosing who they give access to."

Activist Gwen Carr, the mother of Eric Garner, a 43-year-old African American man who died in 2014 after losing consciousness as a Staten Island police officer placed him in a chokehold, also spoke in front of Gov. Hochul's office. She addressed the issue of cannabis revenues not returning to communities harmed by the War on Drugs.

"This money's supposed to go back into the community," Carr said. "It's supposed to be for the hospitals, the mentally ill, to educate the kids in the community, and that's not happening."

Photo: Courtesy of King of Hearts by Wikimedia Commons and Peter Pike by Pixabay