Marijuana growers in New York state are fuming at Gov. Kathy Hochul for vetoing a proposal that would have allowed them to sell surplus weed to tribal retailers.
Hochul, a Democrat, struck down a bill last Friday put forth by members of her own party that would have let cannabis farmers unload large bulks of unsold product to tribes.
“We offered a way for some of the oversupply of cannabis grown by NY’s farmers to be sold to NY’s Tribal Nations,” read a statement from the bill’s chief proponents, state Sen. Michelle Hinchey (D-Hudson) and Assemblywoman Donna Lupardo (D-Binghamton).
“Given the fact that this temporary measure would have expired on December 31st anyway, the veto is hardly a surprise.”
Hinchey and Lupardo said that “many of our farmers remain financially ruined by circumstances beyond their control.”
The two lawmakers noted earlier this year that more than 200 cannabis farmers were trying to sell their crops “but only 23 dispensaries [were] open statewide” — creating a glut of more than 250,000 pounds of unsold cannabis.
“Farmers who took out loans and leveraged all their assets to cultivate these crops are demoralized and facing financial disaster unless we act quickly to provide them with an alternate market,” the two lawmakers, who chair the agriculture committees in their respective chambers, said in September.
“Regulatory delays, lawsuits, and logistical and financing challenges have caused the state to miss its timelines and targets,” the two lawmakers wrote in a letter to Hochul earlier this year.
“However, cultivators are the group paying the steepest price.”
Republican lawmakers in Albany have also supported the measure, which was titled the “Cannabis Crop Rescue Act.”
New York legalized the sale of recreational marijuana in 2021, but lawsuits have prevented the opening of new dispensaries.
The state Office of Cannabis Management has sought to alleviate the bottleneck by allowing weed farmers to partner with licensed retailers and sell their crops at “showcases.”
The Post has sought comment from Hochul.
