New York moves to scrap labor peace agreements

NY, NY
New York moves to scrap labor peace agreements

What happened: New York’s state legislature on June 1 passed A11562/S10643, which kills New York's labor peace agreement requirement and replaces it with a three-member Cannabis Industry Wage Board — one industry rep, one from the AFL-CIO, one commissioner appointee as chair, per a Growv analysis.

The board can subpoena records and set sector-specific minimum wages across cultivation, processing, distribution, and retail. Operators will also have to publicly disclose their full ownership structure, management services agreements, and pay ranges by job title on OCM's website.

Why it matters: The trial in Hybrid NYC LLC v. CCB wrapped on Wednesday, with a decision pending. Hybrid NYC is the parent company of Gotham, a large NYC cannabis retailer (and Cultivated partner). 

An adverse ruling for the state could invalidate LPAs in cannabis programs nationwide, so this is a very big deal. Operators don't get off easy either: labor and the state hold two of three wage board seats, and the disclosure rules crack open ownership and pay practices most have kept private.

What's next: Gov. Kathy Hochul has until year-end to act. If signed, the wage board's first hearing is due by March 1, 2027, with a final report by year-end.

-JB

Like the rest of the market, Trulieve $TRLV ( ▲ 2.61% ) ended its first full day of trading on the NYSE in the red. It was a low volume trading day for the stock, so it’s still early to draw conclusions. But it will certainly be a bellwether for how those outside the industry look at the cannabis

“The most important thing the public should know about the federal government’s plan to reclassify medical cannabis to the less dangerous Schedule III category is that it was based on political science, not medical science,” Matt Poling, a physician and Medical Advisor for Citizens for a Safe and Healthy Texas, an anti-cannabis group, writes in a Houston Chronicle op-ed about the supposed dangers of rescheduling.

“The sad truth is that the evidence for the many psychiatric and physical harms from cannabis use has become, like the addictive products themselves, only stronger in recent years.”

But the very research Poling cites shows this isn’t the case. In one study he cites in the editorial, the authors say that the evidence “limits their ability,” to draw conclusions. But that clearly doesn’t stop Prohibitionist physicians. It’s odd that the stigma of cannabis still breaks the brains of otherwise smart people…

Lawmakers move to scrap residency rule and restart license rollout ⚖️

The state’s General Assembly is on the verge of passing legislation that would drop the in-state ownership requirement and force the Cannabis Control Commission to launch a new application process within 60 days. The fix is aimed at unwinding three federal lawsuits that have left 20 retail licenses and roughly 100 applicants in limbo since an April injunction.

GOP California senator floats ballot measure to reverse Prop 64 🗳️

California Sen. Roger Niello (R) says voters should revisit — and potentially reverse — the state's recreational cannabis legalization through a new ballot initiative, nearly a decade after Prop 64 passed in 2016. Even in a legal market this entrenched, the rollback rhetoric is getting louder as states wrestle with tax revenue shortfalls, an illicit market that never went away, and youth-use concerns.

California regulators want AI to help spot kid-friendly weed packaging 🤖

California's new AI tool lets licensees upload a packaging photo and get back an automated read on whether it violates state rules against cartoons, candy lookalikes, and other designs aimed at kids. The catch: regulators admit the AI "may change from day to day, even when reviewing the same image" — and a passing grade won't shield anyone from enforcement.

Kentucky advocate pitches alcohol-style framework as alternative to federal hemp ban 🍺

In a new op-ed, Kentucky Hemp Growers Cooperative Association executive director Joe Hickey argues Congress should regulate hemp-derived cannabinoids using a state-controlled, 21st Amendment-style model rather than the de facto federal ban in H.R. 5371. It's a notable industry push as the Farm Bill reauthorization barrels toward a deadline that would wipe out the multibillion-dollar intoxicating hemp market. 

10 Ohio hemp beverage companies file federal suit to block state hemp ban ⚖️

A class-action filed in federal court in Toledo argues Ohio's SB 56 violates the Commerce Clause by treating federally legal hemp as marijuana the moment it crosses state lines, and funnels all legal sales into a closed-loop dispensary system where licenses are capped and not being issued. Industry hopes for a quick courtroom fix took a hit in Texas this week, where a state appeals court dissolved the temporary injunction that had been keeping smokable hemp products legal there.

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Michigan cultivator pitches its $20M grow facility to data center developers 💻

A Kalamazoo cannabis grower is shopping its $20 million cultivation site to data center developers as an "inference" facility. When Michigan's beaten-down weed operators start eyeing AI as the way out, it’s a sign of the times.

This one comes from Axios, citing a recent Gallup poll showing that Americans are getting more puritanical. 

One theory: The recent declines we’ve seen in support for cannabis reform particularly among Republicans probably have less to do with the consequences of legalization, as Prohibitionist groups say, and more to do with this overall trend:

The Inside Story Of The World’s First Cannabis-Based Painkiller | Forbes

OPINION: If cannabis money is good enough to tax, it's good enough for philanthropy | The Nevada Independent

What a Blanche AG Nomination Means for Marijuana and Psychedelics | The National Law Review