Law New York

[Baron23]

And further on that subject of fucking up a program rollout with true 'elan, I bring you more from NY state. Now, Hochul is in charge but it appears that, as with many politicians, the buck stops somewhere else. This looks like nothing less than a search for a scapegoat. I'll tell you who is responsible...she is.

New York governor orders probe of Marijuana licensing program 'disaster' amid black market surge​

Unlicensed NY storefronts prompted Gov. Kathy Hochul to request online platforms like Google to stop listing them.​

New York will evaluate its troubled recreational marijuana licensing program after lawsuits and bureaucratic stumbles severely hampered the legal market and allowed black-market sellers to flourish, Gov. Kathy Hochul ordered Monday.


The review will focus on ways the state can speed up license processing times and allow businesses to open faster, as well as a top-down assessment of the Office of Cannabis Management's structure and systems.


Hochul, a Democrat, has described the state's recreational marijuana rollout as a " disaster." Just over 80 legal shops have opened since sales began at the end of 2022.


The state's legalization law reserved the first round of retail licenses for nonprofits and people with prior marijuana convictions. It also set up a $200 million " social equity " fund to help applicants open up shops, all in an effort to help those harmed by the war on drugs get a foothold of the state's marketplace.


But the permitting process was soon beset by legal challenges and the so-called equity fund struggled to get off the ground, stalling growth of the legal market.


In the meantime, unlicensed storefronts opened up all over the state, especially in New York City, with the problem becoming so pronounced that Hochul last month asked such online entities as Google and Yelp to stop listing them online.


Still, state regulators have had trouble dealing with the overwhelming volume of applications. The Office of Cannabis Management has just 32 people reviewing license applications but has received about 7,000 applications since last fall, a spokesman said.


The assessment of the program was also announced days after a top official at the cannabis agency was put on administrative leave following a report from New York Cannabis Insider that alleged the agency had selectively enforced rules to punish a marijuana processor.


The state's review will embed Jeanette Moy, the commissioner of the state's Office of General Services, and other state government officials, in the cannabis management agency for at least 30 days. The group also will come up with plans to improve how the agency functions and set performance metrics moving forward, according to a news release.


"We have built a cannabis market based on equity, and there is a lot to be proud of," said Chris Alexander, executive director of the Office of Cannabis Management. "At the same time, there is more we can do to improve OCM’s operations and we know Commissioner Moy, a proven leader in government, will help us get where we need to be."

 

[Baron23]

And here is the key (to me) statement in this article:

"The existing “quarterly payment system” is problematic for two main reasons: it requires businesses to pay taxes in advance, before collecting payments for the tax period, and it imposes a tax nearing 25% of sales on an industry yet to establish stable profit margins"​

​

NY's rollout of a cannabis program should be a good candidate for a political science PhD thesis on how to utterly fuck up a goverment regulated program. And, much like CA, one of NY's most significant problems is due directly to that state's politician's greed for tax dollars to redistribute to favored programs and demographics. They thought that MJ was going to be the goose that laid the golden egg and bail them out of their irresponsible spending deficits. Fucking idiots, one and all.

NY’s quarterly tax payments for Cannabis businesses ‘threatens the viability’ of all operators​

Urgent Need for Reform: New York's Cannabis Tax Payment System.​

As the April 1 state budget deadline looms in Albany, all cannabis tax discussions have been on the THC potency tax repeal-and-replace proposals.


We are thankful that the governor and legislature have all offered substantial replacement options for the THC potency tax. However there is a separate cannabis tax issue that needs to be addressed.


The existing “quarterly payment system” is problematic for two main reasons: it requires businesses to pay taxes in advance, before collecting payments for the tax period, and it imposes a tax nearing 25% of sales on an industry yet to establish stable profit margins, unheard of in any other new industry.


On behalf of the entire New York cannabis industry — from cultivators to processors to dispensaries — we argue that a healthy, balanced industry should be treated similarly to the local New York alcohol sector, paying taxes annually at a more manageable rate.


With these critical adjustments, the nascent cannabis sector could provide substantial employment, contribute its fair share in taxes, and offer returns to its investors to continue to grow sustainably.


Considering the current 110-day Excise Tax cycle, cannabis producers in New York must pay taxes before receiving payment for that period’s sales. Often, they secure only 50% of the necessary sales revenue by the due date, given that most stores pay about 45-50 days post-delivery.


This timing means that about one-third to half of the period’s sales revenue is still pending when taxes are due, forcing businesses to rely on profit margins to cover the tax — which with the current market size and lack of scale is often in the range 5-10% of sales for New York operators.


Take, for example, total sales of $250,000 over December, January, and February. The Excise Tax due would be approximately $62,500, breaking down to about $20,800 monthly. However, the profit from December and January – if it exists – likely only totals approximately $16,700, insufficient to cover February’s $20,800 Excise Tax, thereby necessitating external financing.


This leads New York operators into further predatory debt as there is no conventional financing for cannabis companies, perpetuating a vicious cycle that worsens as the market expands. The lack of external financing options for the cannabis sector intensifies this problem, with tax authorities sometimes seizing producers’ property for unpaid taxes.


Several businesses, including ours, have faced property liens from New York tax authorities for taxes due on revenues not yet received, due to the short collection period. Although we managed to temporarily resolve this issue through a payment plan, it is not a sustainable solution.


This tax structure threatens the viability of nearly all operators in the industry, highlighting the critical need for reform in the tax payment cycle. Even with a proposed excise tax reduction to 9%, the problem remains significant and requires immediate attention.


We are thankful that Senator Jeremy Cooney is understanding of this issue and is working to address it in Albany.

 

[Baron23]

I really don't cherry pick negative articles about NY's MJ program. I derive most of my posts from some sort of MJ article clipping service type emails/websites. Its just that NY and "how to utterly fuck up an MJ program rollout" is in the news almost daily. Wow...

As for Hochul's recent criticism of the regulating authority over this program seems like finger pointing and CYA to me. It seems many current politicians have revised Truman's famous quote to now be "the buck stops anywhere but with me". sigh

New York’s Scorecard: 85 Legal Shops, 2000 Illegal Ones​

Challenges Mount for New York's Cannabis Rollout Amid Illegal Dispensary Proliferation.​

The lack of legal dispensaries and the overwhelming proliferation of illegal ones are the biggest concerns of the rollout three years after legalization.


After three years of fits and starts, the rollout of New York’s recreational cannabis market gained speed in 2024, most notably with the opening of about 50 licensed dispensaries so far this year.


But the licensed retailers, who number about 85 in total, are far outnumbered by more than 2,000 rogue head shops, the target of complaints that they siphon customers, sell to children and attract criminals.


The quick and brazen takeover has left many people frustrated with the government’s slower and stricter approach to expanding the legal market and has emerged as the most pressing challenge facing the rollout, as the authorities struggle to keep the state’s promise to deliver a $5 billion market to diverse small businesses and people harmed by past anti-marijuana policies.


“They need to get a handle on that quickly,” said James Stephenson, a co-founder and chief executive of oHHo, a wellness brand that depends on dispensaries to sell its cannabis-infused chocolates, gummies and seltzers. “You can’t have one set of people playing by the rules.”


While the illicit shops multiplied, legal dispensary openings stalled for months because of lawsuits, the rule-making process and the state’s broken promise to finance the leasing and renovations of the first 150 licensed dispensaries. Just 10 stores are in operation with the state’s help, while another 375 dispensaries, licensed for nine months or more, have yet to open their doors.


Gov. Kathy Hochul, who has increasingly voiced her disappointment, recently ordered a review of the Office of Cannabis Management, the agency handling the rollout. She has also proposed legislation expanding the power of local authorities to punish unlicensed shops and complicit landlords, as well as a measure to slash taxes that drive up the price of legal products. The changes have broad support in the State Legislature.

 

[Baron23]

No, a judge didn’t void all of New York’s legalized marijuana laws. He struck down some​

NEW YORK (AP) — New York’s cannabis industry was unsettled Thursday by a judge’s ruling that appeared to strike down all regulations governing recreational marijuana in the state. But a key portion of the order turned out to be a mistake.

The Wednesday ruling was amended Thursday to reflect a much narrower decision after cannabis growers, sellers and other supporters voiced concerns about the implications.

The decision came in a lawsuit brought by Leafly, a cannabis sales website, which challenged the state’s rules barring marijuana dispensaries from advertising on third-party platforms.

State Supreme Court Justice Kevin Bryant, in a strongly worded decision, sided with Leafly in declaring the state’s rules were arbitrary, capricious and therefore unconstitutional.

His ruling initially appeared to void not just the marketing and advertising rules in question but the state’s entire regulatory regime for being “unconstitutionally vague.”

The decision was later amended to show that the judge voided the state rules dealing only with so-called third-party platforms such as Leafly that help marijuana companies market and promote their products.


By then, multiple news articles had appeared saying New York’s entire system for regulating marijuana had been thrown out, and an uproar had begun. State Sen. Jeremy Cooney, who chairs the Senate’s cannabis subcommittee, was among those who quickly denounced the decision.


“Today’s State Supreme Court decision was another setback in a series of blows New York’s adult-use cannabis market has faced since legalization, three years ago,” he wrote in a statement. “While some changes to marketing regulations are needed, the decision by the Court to throw out all agency regulations will ultimately slow progress at a time when we need to more aggressively combat illicit shops to grow a stronger, more-equitable legal market.”

A message was left with a spokesperson for the state court system seeking more information about the initial, mistaken ruling. The state Office of Cannabis Management said it is reviewing the corrected decision.

New York’s rollout of legalized marijuana has been defined by a slow licensing process, legal challenges, a proliferation of thousands of illicit shops and a lack of substantial regulatory enforcement.

The relatively paltry number of licensed shops has also led to complaints from marijuana farmers that there aren’t enough legal sellers to handle their crops. At the same time, authorities have been working to shut down illegal marijuana shops that have popped up all over the state, particularly in New York City, as unlicensed sellers fill the legal vacuum.

Meanwhile Leafly, the California company whose suit sparked the uproar, said it looks forward to supporting New York’s marijuana consumers and businesses following the ruling.

“It’s impossible to overstate the importance of providing consumers with choices, and educational information when making purchasing decisions,” the company said in a statement. “It is critically important that licensed-retailers have equal access to important advertising and marketing tools to help them succeed in a competitive landscape.”

 

[Baron23]

NY Judge’s Cannabis Ruling Opens Door for More Challenges​

New York Judge's Ruling Sparks Potential Wave of Cannabis Regulation Challenges.​

A New York judge’s recent ruling that a handful of the state’s adult-use cannabis regulations are “unconstitutionally vague” and infringe on the free-speech rights of cannabis businesses will likely spur more challenges, attorneys said.


New York Supreme Court Justice Kevin Bryant has done “the homework for every lawyer out there that has their eye on this space” and has standing to sue, Andrew Schriever, partner at Prince Lobel Tye LLP, said about the decision in Leafly Holdings Inc. v. NYS Office of Cannabis Mgmt.


Such lawsuits will likely be limited to specific sections of the rules, rather than the entire framework, attorneys said days after Bryant issued an amended opinion on the legality of the state’s recreational marijuana regime.


Bryant’s ruling focuses on five specific requirements, including rules that prohibit retail dispensaries from paying for marketing or promotion through a third-party platform that lists cannabis products for sale and a ban on fulfilling orders placed on a third-party marketplace where other retail dispensary licensees are listed.


Though Bryant narrowed his previous ruling to invalidate only the third-party marketing and pricing rules, rather than several other regulations that weren’t challenged in the lawsuit, the judge’s overall stance remained the same—that the state’s adult-use cannabis rules are arbitrary and capricious and there’s no “sound and substantial basis in the record” to support the actions taken by the New York Office of Cannabis Management.


Bryant’s presided over at least two other lawsuits challenging the state’s conditional adult-use dispensary licenses. This past August, he temporarily halted the cannabis dispensary licensing process in response to two separate but related lawsuits brought by a group of veterans and the Coalition for Access to Regulated & Safe Cannabis who said the state overstepped its constitutional authority by creating a new type of dispensary license and limiting eligibility. The challengers settled their cases.


“Whether you have a problem with any particular regulation, if that regulation was not seriously looked at, then this case becomes a precedent and tool by which somebody could challenge it,” Schriever said. “That’s assuming they have standing to challenge it—that part’s important. The sky really can’t fall because you have to actually be injured before you challenge the regulations.” Schriever represents Gracious Greens, an adult-use cannabis license applicant, which filed suit last month against the state’s proximity protection rules in the Albany County Supreme Court.


Anyone who wants to challenge New York’s regulations going forward is going to quote from Bryant’s decision, predicted Josh Bauchner, partner at Mandelbaum Barrett PC.


Those challenges will likely be limited to individual parts of the regulations, like the so-called “true party of interest” framework that places restrictions on who can own shares in a licensed cannabis business, or the “buffer zone” regulations that establish how close one dispensary can be to another dispensary, school, or church, said Cecilia Oyediran, chair of the New York State Bar Association’s Cannabis Law Section.


The likelihood of success is low for any lawsuit trying to throw out the regulations wholesale because the statute of limitations for challenging government actions has passed, added Oyediran, who’s also deputy director of Cornell’s Labor and Employment Law Program.


“I feel pretty confident we’re safe in that regard, but I do think we’ll see additional lawsuits, especially as the agency continues to make decisions that impact individual licensees or individual stakeholders or people who have an interest in the market in some respect,” Oyediran said. “I think we’ll see those come down the line.”

Investor Restrictions​

The true party of interest framework is going to be a focus going forward because they limit how cannabis businesses get financing, Bauchner said.


Some people looking to set up cannabis businesses have to seek out financing from third parties who often operate in other states and want to get a foothold in New York, but the state says that if an applicant is invested in the supply-side, like cultivating or processing, in another state, they can’t be a true party of interest in an adult-use retail dispensary in New York. Conversely, if an applicant owns a retail license in another state, they are allowed to invest in or own a retail or supply business in New York.


It’s an area that’s potentially “ripe for litigation,” according to Oyediran.


“People have sent OCM tons and tons of comments about that area, and there really hasn’t been any sort of demonstration from OCM that they, in developing the regulations, took those into consideration,” Oyediran said.

Buffer Zones​

New York’s process for approving dispensary locations is creating confusion and will be another area of litigation, according to Oyediran.


The state’s proximity protection rules, which establish a buffer zone around dispensaries, require a minimum of 1,000 feet to 2,000 feet between adult-use cannabis retail dispensaries, depending on the population of the municipality. It also requires dispensaries be at least 200 feet and 500 feet from churches and schools, respectively.


The issue, Oyediran said, is that the Office of Cannabis Management will sometimes put “a flag down” for one business that’s higher up in the review queue, which blocks off the area for other dispensaries.


“There have been cases where someone’s been on the map one day and off the next and someone else is there in their place,” Oyediran said. “I’ve been hearing a lot of complaints around that from folks and frustration.”


The buffer zone rule “has a lot of hair on it,” Bauchner said. “You have to be a certain distance from operators but until they’re operating they’re not an operator,” he added.

Going Forward​

The pendulum has swung far enough into over-regulation in New York that it’s opened the door for potential cannabis business owners to make claims they’re being singled out or treated differently from those in other industries, like alcohol, simply because they’re in the cannabis space, Schriever said. That’s irrational, he added, but one could carve out an equal protection argument.


“As long as those variances exist, people can find a way to challenge those regulations,” he added. “Anytime that happens, we tell clients the court’s job is to find a way to save the regulations and help local government.”


Oyediran said she hopes the Office of Cannabis Management starts to think about outlining a clear hearing process that allows people to bring their complaints about rules and regulations directly to the agency so that they don’t have to keep going through the court system.

 

[Baron23]

First thought is....what took so fucking long, Hochul?

New York Cannabis Director Steps Down Amid Major Agency Overhaul​

Chris Alexander, executive director of the Office of Cannabis Management, will step down in September.​

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul last week announced a significant overhaul of the state’s Office of Cannabis Management, including a leadership change at the top of the agency.


The governor’s office said in a press release on Friday that she had “directed an operational overhaul” of the agency, which “follows the release of a 30-day assessment conducted by a team of individuals under the leadership of the Commissioner of the Office of General Services Jeanette Moy, that identified significant structural limitations to the Office of Cannabis Management that have affected the agency’s ability to fulfill its mandate to efficiently establish New York State’s cannabis marketplace.”


Hochul detailed the changes at a press conference in Albany, where the New York Times reported that “Chris Alexander, the executive director of the Office of Cannabis Management, was notably absent.”


According to the Times, Alexander “will step down at the end of his three-year term in September.”


Hochul called for the assessment earlier this year, saying at the time that New York’s legal cannabis rollout had been a “disaster.” Moy was directed to assemble a team to conduct a 30-day review of the office of Cannabi Management. In a letter to Hochul sent last week, Moy said that it was “clear from speaking to operational staff that they are dedicated, mission-driven, and working very hard,” and that in “order to alleviate pressures on staff, the task force took immediate action to recruit for vacant license processing positions to increase the size of the licensing team by 40%, and to explore technology like softphones to improve the hybrid work experience.”


Moy said that the task force “outlined recommendations to enhance customer service and expedite the opening of Adult-Use Retail businesses in New York State’s legal cannabis market.”


“It was a priority of the task force to craft recommendations that would enable this agency to be more transparent, efficient, and responsive to all New Yorkers. In conjunction with your recently announced Enforcement Task Force to shut down illegal cannabis stores, the recommendations in this report will enable OCM to maintain and build upon our State’s commitment to social equity, while maturing into a world-class regulatory agency for a thriving New York State cannabis market,” Moy said.


In Friday’s press release, the governor’s office said that the “assessment makes comprehensive recommendations to end the bottleneck of license applicants and improve communication with applicants and licensees – transforming the Office’s capacity to expand safe, legal cannabis operations across the state.”


“Based on the assessment’s findings, Governor Hochul announced a series of immediate actions to reform the licensing processes and increase enforcement against illegal storefronts. The Governor also announced the establishment of a $5 million grant program to help CAURD licensees and previewed next week’s launch of the Cannabis Enforcement Task Force,” the announcement said.


New York’s legal cannabis market has had a sluggish rollout; according to the New York Times, there are only 122 legal recreational cannabis dispensaries in the state, while “the number of illicit shops in New York City alone has nearly doubled to 2,900.”


“At the end of April, more than 5.600 applications, mostly for retail and craft businesses that submitted them as far back as August 2022, were still waiting to be reviewed,” the Times reported.


The governor’s office said that the “assessment identified significant impediments to the Office’s effective processing and approval of applicant licensure.”


“Without best capability to fulfill the licensing role, the individuals this process is designed to help are exhausting substantial resources navigating it and risk being left behind. Delays in the legal marketplace have created a vacuum for illegal storefronts to proliferate and squeeze out CAURD licensees. The reforms announced today will create additional capacity for closing illegal storefronts and lifting up legal operators,” the press release said.


Hoy said in a statement on Friday that the “multi-agency task force created to assess the Office of Cannabis Management has identified several steps the agency can take to unclog the bottleneck of applications by improving communication with applicants and streamlining the application process.”


“The proposals outlined in the task force’s report will improve transparency and open lines of communication in the application process while boosting the state’s efforts to meet Governor Hochul’s commitment to equity in New York’s cannabis market,” Moy said.


In a statement, Hochul thanked Moy and her team “for their hard work and thoughtful assessment,” saying she looks forward “to working with OCM to implement the report’s recommendations and transform New York’s cannabis industry.”


“We promised to build the strongest, most equitable legal cannabis market in the nation, and we’re announcing long-needed steps to make New York’s cannabis program work as promised,” Hochul said.


But the Times said that the report “immediately drew backlash from critics who said it painted an incomplete portrait,” with some arguing that “it omitted or glossed over the role of the governor, the Legislature and the many lawsuits against the agency in the challenges facing the cannabis program.”

 

[Baron23]

It wouldn't be the new millennium in America without the race card being played at every opportunity.

And there really is a thing called "Cannabis Regulators of Color Coalition (CRCC)". Substitute "color" for almost any other demographic and you would be slaughtered for racism. I got news for you....this ^^ is racist as fuck.

Of course it could never be that Alexander is not having his term extended because his organization is a fucking utter failure. Oh no...has to be because he's a black American. FFS.



Cannabis Regulators Of Color Condemn New York Governor’s Firing Of Top Marijuana Official (Op-Ed)


“The fact that the head of one of the state’s few Black-led agencies has been scapegoated for all the challenges identified in the OGS report is unconscionable.”
By Shekia Scott & Cat Packer, Cannabis Regulators of Color Coalition

The Cannabis Regulators of Color Coalition (CRCC) is profoundly shocked and dismayed at New York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s (D) sudden announcement last week of an operational overhaul of the Office of Cannabis Management (OCM), which includes the decision not to reinstate OCM Executive Director Chris Alexander, a highly competent and trusted leader, at the end of his term in September.

This decision, seemingly influenced solely by a biased and inflammatory report from the New York State Office of General Services (OGS) poses a grave threat to the progress and integrity of equitable cannabis regulation in New York State.

While the OGS report identifies common challenges that new regulatory agencies and programs face, such as staffing issues, technological hurdles and licensing process inefficiencies, it emphasizes these challenges as unique to OCM.

Of particular concern, it repeatedly characterizes the office’s leadership as inexperienced and untrustworthy. However, little to no evidence is provided within the audit itself to support these assertions. The scope of this audit is also dubiously narrow as it attempts to investigate the effectiveness of the OCM solely by looking at the newly implemented adult-use licensing process while ignoring other office activities required by law, including policy development, public education, compliance and business development.

Despite the focus on licensing, the report portrays a widespread picture of incompetence and untrustworthiness in OCM’s leadership overall. This compromises the autonomy and credibility of the OCM, even though similar audits of more established state agencies have demonstrated comparable or even exacerbated challenges.
While audits can and should be helpful tools for program evaluation and improvement, the OGS report blames the challenges of New York State’s legal cannabis market on the competence and trustworthiness of OCM leaders—despite the fact that it is unfounded and unproven by the report itself and despite the fact that OCM leadership was appointed by the governor herself.

Moreover, the auditor’s tendency to attribute decisions to OCM without clarifying the agency’s decision-making authority deflects accountability from the governor and OGS, both responsible for supporting OCM during this startup phase. The fact that the head of one of the state’s few Black-led agencies has been scapegoated for all the challenges identified in the OGS report is unconscionable.

It is essential to address the root causes of OCM’s challenges, including the six-month delay in appointing the executive director, litigation that delayed retail licensing progress for nine months, OGS’s inability to support OCM in its staffing efforts and constant attacks to undermine the Marihuana Regulation and Taxation Act’s (MRTA) fundamental goal of repairing the harms of the war on drugs.

Lastly and most critically, the governor’s failure to prioritize the implementation of the state’s Social Equity Fund and ongoing defense of the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York (DASNY) have left hundreds of justice-involved retail licensees without expected support, further exacerbating operational gaps within the state’s cannabis industry.

Despite these delays and a clear lack of support, within two years, New York’s legal cannabis industry under OCM’s leadership already well exceeds national averages for minority- and women-owned businesses, while driving more than $300 million in retail sales.

Drawing from our extensive experience across multiple jurisdictions, many of which include launching new cannabis regulatory agencies, it is critically important to note that the vast majority of the challenges outlined in the OGS report are not unique to the OCM but are inherent to the initial phases of regulatory implementation and are encountered by regulatory bodies worldwide. This is not leadership incompetence; it is a learning curve for governments everywhere.

Furthermore, it’s important that government leaders, especially those representing communities most impacted by cannabis criminalization are empowered in their efforts to support these reforms.

This audit neglects to provide a holistic comparison with other regulatory bodies facing comparable challenges. The selective scrutiny misrepresents the complexities of establishing a new regulatory framework and unfairly targets OCM and its leadership, undermining its current efforts and accomplishments. It is essential to assess regulatory performance within the broader context of comparable agencies to ensure fair evaluation and to avoid unjust criticism.

CRCC supports a transparent and evidence-based approach to cannabis regulation and New York State’s efforts to identify and address the challenges facing OCM as it continues its equity-centered mission to implement a regulatory framework that addresses the harms of cannabis criminalization. However, blaming these challenges solely on OCM leadership’s experience and trustworthiness without merit is unacceptable.

We call on Gov. Hochul to ensure that assessments of the OCM’s performance are fair, comprehensive and based on objective evidence. Moreover, we urge the governor to reconsider her unjust and untimely decision to sever ties with Executive Director Chris Alexander, as it will further exacerbate challenges and delays in critical areas such as licensing, staffing, equity and overall regulatory implementation.

Shekia Scott is a board member of the Cannabis Regulators of Color Coalition (CRCC) and is the senior cannabis business manager in the Boston, Massachusetts Mayor’s Office of Economic Opportunity and Inclusion. She previously served as the inaugural director of equity and community outreach for the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission, the first such position in the nation.

Cat Packer is the vice chair of the Cannabis Regulators of Color Coalition, director of drug markets and legal regulation at the Drug Policy Alliance and a distinguished cannabis policy practitioner in residence at The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law’s Drug Enforcement and Policy Center. She previously served as the first executive director of the City of Los Angeles Department of Cannabis Regulation.