Pot, cannabis products can be sold at NYS trade show-style events
Farmers and processors would be allowed to offer cannabis products at trade shows under new regulations. Credit: AP/Marshall Ritzel
Pot farmers will soon have a new way to roll their products out to the public.
Cultivators will be able to offer joints and flower — the smokable part of the marijuana plant — while processors may provide gummies and other manufactured products at trade show-style events. A general framework for these "cannabis cultivator showcases" was approved by the state Cannabis Control Board Wednesday. Further details will be unveiled in the coming weeks, regulators said.
New vending opportunities could help farmers like Marcos Ribeiro of Shirley, who has about 1,650 pounds of cannabis he hasn't been able to move because so few retailers are open.
"It would be super helpful to give us some hope," said Ribeiro, who owns East End Flower Farm with his wife, Katie Long-Ribeiro. "We've sold a couple hundred pre-rolls [joints], which is very nice and all, but that doesn't even pay the payroll for the week."
If approved by the Town of Brookhaven, Ribeiro would like to host showcases at a farm stand off the Long Island Expressway in Holtsville, where he occasionally sells sunflowers.
"I am excited, but subdued," he added. "Because it's really up to the towns."
Showcases couldn't occur at state fairs or other events where adults are not the bulk of the intended audience, regulators said. Municipalities would need to approve the event unless it was held at a store already licensed to conduct pot sales.
Farmers and processors could provide and promote their products, but they would need a licensed pot retailer with final approval to facilitate the sale, according to Office of Cannabis Management director of policy John Kagia. That's because only retailers who have final authorization to open at a specific delivery facility or storefront have proved that they're set up to comply with taxes and other regulations, he said.
Sarina Trangle covers affordability and cost of living issues and other business topics. She previously worked as an editor and reporter at amNewYork.
