2021 New York Laws
CAN - Cannabis
Article 2 - New York State Cannabis Control Board
10 - Powers and Duties of the Cannabis Control Board.
§ 10. Powers and duties of the cannabis control board. The cannabis control board or "board" shall have the following functions, powers and duties as provided for in this chapter: 1. Discretion to issue or refuse to issue any registration, license or permit provided for in this chapter, as follows: the chairperson, after receiving a recommendation and relevant application information from the office and providing such information to all board members, shall issue a preliminary determination on whether the license, registration or permit shall be granted, denied, or held for further action. Within fourteen days of the chairperson's preliminary determination, any board member may object to the chairperson's preliminary determination, or request the matter be brought before the full board for consideration. Any preliminary determination by the chairperson shall take effect fourteen days after it has been issued by the chairperson, provided that no board member objects or requests the matter be considered by the full board, as adopted by the board through resolution. 2. Sole discretion to limit, or not to limit, the number of registrations, licenses and permits of each class to be issued within the state or any political subdivision thereof, in a manner that prioritizes social and economic equity applicants with the goal of fifty percent awarded to such applicants, and considers small business opportunities and concerns, avoids market dominance in sectors of the industry, and reflects the demographics of the state. 3. Sole discretion to revoke, cancel or suspend for cause any registration, license, or permit issued under this chapter and/or to impose a civil penalty for cause, after notice and an opportunity for a hearing, against any holder of a registration, license, or permit issued pursuant to this chapter. 4. To fix by rule and regulation the standards and requirements of cultivation, processing, packaging, marketing, and sale of medical cannabis, adult-use cannabis and cannabis product, and cannabinoid hemp and hemp extract, including but not limited to, the ability to regulate excipients, and the types, forms, and concentration of products which may be manufactured and/or processed, in order to ensure the health and safety of the public and the use of proper ingredients and methods in the manufacture of all medical, adult-use, cannabinoid hemp and hemp extract to be sold or consumed in the state and to ensure that products are not packaged, marketed, or otherwise sold in a way which targets minors or promotes increased use or cannabis use disorders. 5. To limit or prohibit, at any time of public emergency and without previous notice or advertisement, the cultivation, processing, distribution or sale of any or all cannabis products, medical cannabis or cannabinoid hemp and hemp extract, for and during the period of such emergency. 6. To hold hearings, subpoena witnesses, compel their attendance, administer oaths, to examine any person under oath and in connection therewith to require the production of any books or records relative to the inquiry. A subpoena issued under this section shall be regulated by the civil practice law and rules. 7. To appoint any necessary directors, deputies, counsels, assistants, investigators, and other employees within the limits provided by appropriation. Directors, deputies and counsels, including the chief equity officer, and confidential secretaries to board members shall be in the exempt class of the civil service. The other assistants, investigators and employees of the office shall all be in the competitive class of the civil service and shall be considered for purposes of article fourteen of the civil service law to be public employees of the state, and shall be assigned to the appropriate bargaining unit. Investigators so employed by the office shall be deemed to be peace officers only for the purposes of enforcing the provisions of this chapter or judgments or orders obtained for violation thereof, with all the powers set forth in section 2.20 of the criminal procedure law. Employees transferred to the office shall be transferred without further examination or qualification to the same or similar titles and shall remain in the same collective bargaining units and shall retain their respective civil service classifications, status and rights pursuant to their collective bargaining units and collective bargaining agreements. Employees serving in positions in newly created titles shall be assigned to the appropriate collective bargaining unit as they would have been assigned to were such titles created prior to the establishment of the office of cannabis management. Any action taken under this subdivision shall be subject to and in accordance with the civil service law. The executive director shall appoint a deputy director for health and safety who shall be a licensed health care practitioner within the state and who shall oversee all clinical aspects of the office. 8. To inspect or provide authorization for the inspection at any time of any premises where medical cannabis, adult-use cannabis or cannabinoid hemp and hemp extract is cultivated, processed, stored, distributed or sold. 9. To prescribe forms of applications for registrations, licenses and permits under this chapter and of all reports deemed necessary by the board. 10. To appoint such advisory groups and committees as deemed necessary to provide assistance to the board to carry out the purposes and objectives of this chapter. 11. To exercise the powers and perform the duties in relation to the administration of the board and the office of cannabis management as are necessary but not specifically vested by this chapter, including but not limited to budgetary and fiscal matters. 12. To develop and establish minimum criteria for certifying employees to work in the cannabis industry in positions requiring advanced training and education. 13. To enter into contracts, memoranda of understanding, and agreements as deemed appropriate to effectuate the policy and purpose of this chapter. 14. To advise the office of cannabis management and/or urban development corporation in making low interest or zero-interest loans to qualified social and economic equity applicants as provided for in this chapter. 15. If public health, safety, or welfare imperatively requires emergency action, and incorporates a finding to that effect in an order, summary suspension of a license may be ordered, effective on the date specified in such order or upon service of a certified copy of such order on the licensee, whichever shall be later, pending proceedings for revocation or other action. These proceedings shall be promptly instituted and determined. In addition, the board may be directed to order the administrative seizure of product, issue a stop order, or take any other action necessary to effectuate and enforce the policy and purpose of this chapter. 16. To draft and provide for public comment and issue regulations, declaratory rulings, guidance and industry advisories. 17. To draft and provide an annual report on the effectiveness of this chapter. The annual report shall be prepared, in consultation with the division of the budget, the urban development corporation, the department of taxation and finance, the department of health, department of agriculture and markets, office of addiction services and supports, office of mental health, New York state police, department of motor vehicles and the division of criminal justice services. The report shall provide, but not be limited to, the following information:(a) the number of registrations, licenses, and permits applied for by geographic region of the state; the number of registrations, licenses, and permits approved or denied by geographic region of the state;
(b) the economic and fiscal impacts associated with this chapter, including revenue from licensing or other fees, fines and taxation related to the cultivation, distribution and sale of cannabis for medical and adult-use and cannabinoid hemp and hemp extract in this state;
(c) specific programs and progress made by the cannabis control board and the office of cannabis management in achieving the goals of the social and economic equity plan, and other social justice goals including, but not limited to, restorative justice, minority- and women-owned businesses, distressed farmers and service disabled veterans;
(d) demographic data on owners and employees in the medical cannabis, adult-use cannabis and cannabinoid hemp and hemp extract industry;
(e) impacts to public health and safety, including substance use disorder;
(f) impacts associated with public safety, including, but not limited to, traffic-related issues, law enforcement, under-age prevention in relation to accessing adult-use cannabis, and efforts to eliminate the illegal market for cannabis products in New York;
(g) any other information or data deemed significant; and
(h) the board shall make recommendations regarding the appropriate level of taxation of adult-use cannabis, as well as changes necessary to: improve registration, licensing and permitting; promoting and encouraging social and economic equity applicants; improve and protect the public health and safety of New Yorkers; improve access and availability for substance abuse treatment programs; and any other recommendations deemed necessary and appropriate. Such report shall be published on the office's website and presented to the governor, the majority leader of the senate and the speaker of the assembly, no later than January first, two thousand twenty-three and annually thereafter. 18. When an administrative decision is appealed to the board by an applicant, registered organization, licensee or permittee, issue a final determination of the office. 19. Approve the opening of new license application periods, and when new or additional licenses are made available pursuant to this chapter, provided, however, that the initial adult-use cannabis retail dispensary license application period shall be opened for all applicants at the same time. 20. Approve any price quotas or price controls set by the executive director as provided by this chapter. 21. Approve the office's social and economic equity plan pursuant to section eighty-four of this chapter. 22. To enter into tribal-state compacts with the New York state Indian nations and tribes, as defined by section two of the Indian law, authorizing such Indian nations or tribes to acquire, possess, manufacture, sell, deliver, transport, distribute or dispense adult-use cannabis and/or medical cannabis. 23. With the exception of promulgating rules and regulations, the board shall have the power to delegate any functions, powers and duties as provided for in this section to the executive director of the office of cannabis management. Any such delegation shall be through a resolution voted on and approved by the board members. 24. The board shall, two years after the first retail sale pursuant to this chapter, review the impact of licenses issued pursuant to article four of this chapter with substantial market share for any category of licensure, to determine if such licensees are impairing the achievement of the goals of inclusion of social equity licensees, fairness for small businesses and distressed farmers, adequate supplies of cannabis and prevention of dominant marketplace participation in the cannabis industry. The board may modify the terms of the licensee's license consistent with the determination and to better achieve those goals. Any such modification may be appealed by the licensee for a formal hearing as provided in section seventeen of this article. For any licensee such review shall include violations of New York state labor law and labor peace agreements. Further, an existing collective bargaining agreement shall not be infringed or voided by any licensee who after such review suffers from a reduction in market share.
