Despite the New York Governor, Kathy Hochul’s promise of $200 million to support social equity applicants in the state’s cannabis market, the Social Equity Cannabis Investment Fund is yet to deploy its first investment. The fund, which was appointed by Hochul to be managed by the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York (DASNY), was tasked to raise $150 million from private investors and $50 million from the state to fund leasing and renovations of up to 150 Conditional Adult-Use Retail Dispensaries (CAURDs).
DASNY appointed Social Equity Impact Ventures, which comprises of NBA Hall of Famer Chris Webber and entrepreneur Lavetta Willis and the investment banking firm Siebert Williams Shank to manage the fund. However, despite a deadline to secure capital commitments, the state has not yet secured the funding. Reuben McDaniel III, DASNY’s president and CEO, stated that they are still negotiating the final terms with their investor base.
Meanwhile, New York’s 280 conditionally licensed cannabis farmers are struggling to adapt to the 2023 regulations and the slow rollout of recreational sales. The farmers have until February 1st to decide on four cultivation plans for 2023, with the initial deadline being January 13th, which was later extended after the Cannabis Association of New York joined forces with several licensed cultivators to complain to the state’s Office of Cannabis Management. Tim Moshier, owner of B30 Farm in Fulton, stated that the growers are concerned about being locked into uninformed decisions for the next few years as they haven’t been able to get their products to market and find out what sells.
The first legal sale of recreational weed took place in Manhattan in December 2022, meeting the state’s deadline to open a store. However, despite Hochul’s promise in October of 20 dispensaries opening by the end of 2022, with another 20 each following month, New York City will only get its second dispensary in February, nearly 20 months after recreational marijuana was legalized.
