Curaleaf CEO on New York fees: ‘I feel like it’s a racket’

Jeremy chatted with Curaleaf CEO Boris Jordan on Cultivated Live on Friday. Jordan discussed his opposition to the $15 million fee that Curaleaf and other existing medical cannabis operators must pay to convert up to three stores from medical to the recreational market in New York.

“I feel like it’s a racket,” Jordan said. 

Watch it here:

Key context: New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed the annual state budget last week. 

The budget codifies a $15 million fee for firms operating in the state’s medical cannabis industry, known as Registered Organizations (ROs), to open up to three stores for the recreational market. The ROs include big cannabis companies like Curaleaf who say the fee seems predatory, while some smaller, local cannabis companies say it is too light. The budget also included staffing cuts for the Office of Cannabis Management.

On the other hand…

“The Governor’s budget grants a tax break to the largest, best-capitalized cannabis operators in New York — most of whom are not even based in the state — while once again leaving behind the small businesses, family farmers, and equity licensees who have carried the burden of the legal market rollout.”

“Rolling back Registered Organization (RO) licensing fees 25% from $20 million to $15 million — without any transparent justification — sends a clear message: This administration prioritizes out-of-state cannabis conglomerates over New Yorkers who have fought for a foothold in this industry,” the Empire Cannabis Manufacturers' Alliance (ECMA), a group of New York cannabis companies, said in a statement. 

Top NY cannabis regulator keeps her job, but not her salary 🗽

Cannabis Control Board chair Tremaine Wright told Spectrum News 1 that she would continue to serve on the board despite her $229,000 salary being cut from Governor Kathy Hochul's annual budget. The salary was an outlier for membership on New York's state boards as most of them are unpaid positions.  

Wisconsin Republicans block legalization 👎

Democratic Governor Tony Evers' plan to legalize cannabis through his budget proposal was rejected in the Republican-majority state House last week. Legalization was just one of over 600 other budget items that were killed by the House budget committee. 

Delaware Commissioner must divest from cannabis before confirmation ⏰

Delaware's Senate postponed the confirmation of Joshua Sanderlin as the state's new Marijuana Commissioner. Sanderlin, who previously worked as an attorney for cannabis companies in Maryland and Washington D.C., must divest stakes that he currently holds in two separate cannabis companies. The former commissioner, Robert Coupe, stepped down in January. 

Suspect in fatal Nevada car crash tried to hide cannabis 🚨

A man accused of DUI after a car he was allegedly driving struck and killed a pedestrian Tuesday tried to hide “receipts for marijuana vape pens” immediately after the collision, according to an arrest report, per The Las Vegas Review-Journal.

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Vireo Health holds steady in 2025 📊

Vireo Health reported a $6.5 million loss on $24.5 million in revenue during the first quarter of 2025. The company's sales increased in Minnesota, stayed flat in Maryland, and fell in New York, where Vireo Growth is a medical operator that only recently got approval to sell to the recreational market. 

Cresco Labs postpones May 9 earnings call ⌚

The Chicago-based cannabis firm postponed the earnings call set to be held on May 9, in order "to provide additional time to complete procedures for the review of its first quarter interim financial statements." The new date for the call has not been set, but the company expects it to take place by May 30. 

Massachusetts Cannabis agency loses another commissioner ✈️

Mass Cannabis Control Commission member Nurys Camargo announced that she was leaving her position on the CCC, with about eight months left in her five-year term. With her departure the embattled commission goes back to having just three of its five seats filled. 

Switzerland study finds legal weed is good for mental health 😃

Researchers out of the University of Basel in Switzerland found that increased access to legal cannabis correlates to better mental health and less problematic substance abuse. The researchers theorized that part of the benefit of legalized cannabis is that consumers do not have to deal with purchasing from the illicit market.

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