As pot stockpiles grow, Shinnecock Nation, others press Hochul to allow sales to tribes
Marijuana plants are shown in the greenhouse during a tour at the Columbia Care facility in Riverhead in 2022. Credit: James Carbone
ALBANY — Key state lawmakers and Native Americans on Tuesday called on Gov. Kathy Hochul to sign legislation to enable marijuana farmers to deal with an oversupply by selling the crop to tribes, including the Shinnecock Indian Nation, so they can sell it in their stores.
There is an urgency to the issue: Some 250,000 pounds of marijuana are languishing in storage — potentially nearing a practical expiration date — because of the extremely sluggish rollout of retail marijuana sales in New York.
If the crop goes bad, it will mean a loss of the millions of dollars for scores of farmers around the state who had been looking to break into the legal market, according to backers of the legislation.
“After months of uncertainty surrounding New York’s adult-use cannabis market rollout, desperation is building amongst the state’s cannabis farmers,” Assemb. Donna Lupardo (D-Binghamton), chair of the Assembly Agriculture Committee, said in a statement. “The current pace of new retail openings will not resolve this issue, and this product is losing value every day we wait.”
New York legalized recreational marijuana more than two years ago and began a process of licensing retail shops, with the state collecting a share of the proceeds. But the rollout of retail shops has been slow and hurt by a steady growth in unlicensed sales.
Earlier this year, the Hochul administration announced a multipronged crackdown on illegal shops, starting with Tax Department inspections.
Meanwhile, only about a dozen retail shops have opened across the state. On Long Island, 37 licenses have been approved but, so far, just one brick-and-mortar retail shop is close to opening.
That means farmers who were among the first to receive conditional licenses to cultivate marijuana haven’t had enough outlets for sales.
Some are farmers who began growing marijuana as a side project to boost revenue for, say, a dairy, Lupardo said. Collectively, about 175 farms are sitting on about 250,000 pounds of product that will go bad in the not too distant future.
“It’s an unstable situation for these farmers,” Lupardo said Tuesday. Some marijuana cultivators have said they could go under if sales aren’t jump-started.
Several potential legislative fixes fizzled, such as direct sales to consumers or even a bailout of cultivators. The idea of allowing sales at farmers' markets and other summer venues has been on the table.
The one measure the Senate and Assembly approved allows a one-time sale to tribal nations to relieve the oversupply.
Several tribes announced support, including the Shinnecock.
“We think we can sell a lot of it. We have discussed an initial purchase offer of over $10 million from these farmers who are in severe financial stress because their crop is failing,” Tela Troge, spokeswoman for the Shinnecock Nation, said Tuesday. She said there currently are two retail shops and one dispensary on tribal land selling marijuana products.
The Seneca Nation, which opened marijuana stores on its lands last spring, also backs the idea.
“We believe that this bill reflects the type of common-sense partnership between sovereigns by allowing Native Nation-regulated retailers to purchase cannabis and cannabis products that otherwise may be wasted or otherwise diverted for uses inconsistent with New York law,” Rickey L. Armstrong Sr., president of the Seneca Nation, said.
A Hochul spokesman didn’t comment on the legislation Tuesday other than to say the governor would review it.
Troge said the Shinnecock “hope this bill is a priority because we are racing the clock.”
