New York’s Cannabis Retail Dispensary Regulations, Part 2: Security and Surveillance

Welcome to Part 2 in this series on New York’s cannabis retail dispensary regulations, covering security. In Part 1, we covered the rules around dispensary operations.

As we also previously summarized, on Friday, October 28, 2022, the Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) released its “Guidance for Adult-Use Dispensaries” (the Regulations). The Regulations are promulgated to provide guidance for Conditional Adult-Use Retails Dispensary (CAURD) licensees and applicants. Last week, at a hearing with the Cannabis Control Board, it was announced that 36 CAURD applicants were granted a license.

The information contained in the Regulations is a mix of substantive requirements, operational guidance and insight into the OCM’s plans for the issuance of licenses and operation of New York’s cannabis industry. As part of our series explaining and detailing the Regulations, this post provides licensees with guidance on the security measures and systems that must be operational in the premised utilized as a retail dispensary. Of course, this post cannot go into each and every mundane detail of the Regulations. Instead, it should serve as a basis for your knowledge going forward and as usual, we encourage you to review the Regulations and consult with an attorney.

Security measures

Licensees must implement sufficient security measures to deter diversion, theft or loss of cannabis and cannabis products, theft or loss of cash, prevent unauthorized entrance into areas containing cannabis or cannabis products, and to ensure the safety of the licensee’s workers and the general public.

Per the OCM, the Licensee must implement and maintain a security plan which must include, at a minimum, a description of the measures a licensee will undertake to prevent unauthorized access to the licensed premises, protect the physical safety of all individuals on the premises, deter theft or loss of cannabis products, and prevent loitering.

During the design and buildout of the licensed premises, Licensees must ensure that both the inside, and the outside perimeter of the premises are sufficiently illuminated to facilitate surveillance and the trees, bushes and other foliage outside of the licensed premises must be maintained in such a way as to prevent a person from concealing themselves from sight.

The maintenance of the outside foliage may present a challenge because the Licensees cannot choose their location and the foliage may belong to another entity or town/city/state that prohibits the Licensee from removing or modifying such foliage. Watch for some interesting issues here.

Security system

Licensees are also required to have a security system at the dispensary that utilizes commercial grade equipment to prevent and detect diversion, theft, or loss. The system, at a minimum, must include a perimeter alarm that communicates with an internal designee and a third-party commercial central monitoring station when intrusion is detected and specific video camera surveillance and technology. The security alarms and video surveillance system must be able to remain operational during a power outage for a minimum of eight hours.

The Licensee must maintain video camera surveillance in all areas that may contain cannabis products, at all points of entry and exit, and in any parking lot. Video camera surveillance shall meet, at a minimum the following additional requirements:

1. Video cameras shall have the ability to immediately produce a clear color still photo from any camera image (live or recorded);
2. Video recordings shall allow for the exporting of still images in an industry standard image format (including .jpeg, .bmp, and .gif);
3. Video cameras shall include a date and time stamp embedded on all recordings.
4. Video cameras shall produce continuous recordings during hours of operation and at any time that cannabis products are handled, and motion activated recordings at all other times;
5. The Licensee shall make available via remote access or login credentials for immediate viewing by the OCM or the OCM authorized representative upon request;
6. All recordings shall be retained for at least 60 days;
7. Licensees shall make an unaltered copy of video camera recording(s) to the Office upon request; and
8. If a Licensee is aware of a pending criminal, civil or administrative investigation or legal proceeding for which a recording may contain relevant information, the Licensee shall retain an unaltered copy of the recording until the investigation or proceeding is closed or the entity conducting the investigation or proceeding notifies the licensee that it is not necessary to retain the recording.

What’s next

Stay tuned for upcoming posts in this series. And be sure to join us on December 7 when we host a free webinar on the CAURD guidelines, and what every applicant and licensee needs to know.

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The future of cannabis is about to photobomb the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade

The new Cookies flagship store at Herald Square may backdrop Al Roker's standups on Thursday.

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Can cannabis help you lose weight?

Research suggests that cannabis users are significantly less likely to be obese than non-users (despite its ability to provoke the munchies). Learn more about how weed may be able to help with weight loss.

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New York Retail Dispensary Licenses Announced

The New York Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) announced its final list of applicants who will be issued the first retail cannabis licenses in the state. Thirty-six applicants were announced on Nov. 20, which were chosen out of a pool of 903 applicants.

“BREAKING: In a historic decision, the #NYCCB has approved the first round of CAURD [Conditional Adult-Use Retail Dispensary] licensees. 28 Justice-involved individuals & 8 Nonprofit organizations will make the first adult use-sales by New York farmers and bring countless opportunities to our communities. #NYCCB” the OCM wrote on Twitter on Nov. 21. The regions with the most CAURD licenses include Manhattan (22), Long Islands (20), Brooklyn (19), Mid-Hudson (19), and Queens (16).

According to The New York Times, a majority of the finalists are owned by people who have been previously convicted of a cannabis offense, or have a close family member who have been convicted. There are eight non-profit organizations, (such as Housing Works, The Doe Fund, and LIFE Camp), which are also included in the final list.

In addition to the finalist announcement, the OCM also released a 282-page document detailing the state’s draft regulations. “The #NYCCB has voted to advance OCM’s largest adult-use cannabis regulation package since the MRTA [Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act] passed to public comment. These regulations are intended to establish rules for a safe, equitable, consumer-driven market focused on small businesses,” the agency wrote, inviting the public to submit comments to regulations@ocm.ny.gov (which will be open for 60 days).

The OCM has previously stated that it aims to have some retail dispensaries open before the end of 2022. “We’re excited about granting the first adult-use cannabis licenses today,” said OCM spokesperson Trivette Knowles. “New York is ready for adult-use cannabis sales and we’re still working towards the goal of having the first sales begin this calendar year.” Eventually, an estimated 150 retail licenses are expected to be awarded across the state.

This expectation aligns with an earlier statement from New York from Gov. Kathy Hochul in October as well. “We expect the first 20 dispensaries to be open by the end of this year,” Hochul said. “And then every month or so, another 20. So, we’re not going to just jam it out there. It’s going to work and be successful.”

Recent reports state that New York has over $750 million worth of cannabis harvested and stockpiled, but nowhere for it to go without licensed dispensaries to sell them.

According to New York-based Hudson Cannabis farm CEO Melany Dobson, they’ve just been waiting for the OCM to greenlight license approval. “It’s an unclear path to market. We’ve been told again and again that dispensaries will open before the end of the year,” Dobson told Bloomberg. “I’ve acted as though that’s our single source of proof, so we’re prepared for that.”

Cannabis begins to deteriorate when it begins to age, both in color as well as quality. “Old cannabis starts to have a brownish glow,” Dobson explained. While Hudson Cannabis’s operation allows it to store cannabis to prevent degradation for about 12 months, other farms may not be able to preserve their cannabis for long before it becomes unusable.

Recently a judge issued a temporary injunction that prevents New York regulators from issuing retail licenses in five regions of the state. According to a statement from David C. Holland, a partner of the law firm Prince Lobel, this injunction could expand to include other regions of New York as well. “This could have a wider impact across the entire state as the same state-specific contact and conviction requirements were imposed in 14 regions in New York, which are designated to set up a CAURD dispensary and may have prevented justice-involved individuals from other states from applying for a conditional license because of the state’s efforts to protect and promote its emerging cannabis industry,” Holland stated.

The post New York Retail Dispensary Licenses Announced appeared first on High Times.

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Fentanyl Vaccine Called ‘Game-Changer’

Could a fentanyl vaccine potentially save thousands of lives? A recent animal study published in the journal Pharmaceutics indicates that a fentanyl vaccine was able to block the drug from entering the brain of rats—thus making it a worthy candidate for human studies and eventually something available to the public that can save lives.

Researchers administered rats with three doses of the vaccine or immunization at three-week intervals, and another group of rats received a placebo. To determine if the drug was working, they tested the immunized rats’ pain responses by heating up their tails for up to 10 seconds and seeing how long they took to pull away.

The vaccination significantly reduced entry of fentanyl into the brain and anti-fentanyl antibodies targeted fentanyl with no cross-reactions to other opioids. 

“We believe these findings could have a significant impact on a very serious problem plaguing society for years—opioid misuse,” study lead author Colin Haile told University of Houston (UH) news. “Our vaccine is able to generate anti-fentanyl antibodies that bind to the consumed fentanyl and prevent it from entering the brain, allowing it to be eliminated out of the body via the kidneys. Thus, the individual will not feel the euphoric effects and can ‘get back on the wagon’ to sobriety.” 

Haile is a research associate professor of psychology at UH and the Texas Institute for Measurement, Evaluation and Statistics (TIMES), and a founding member of the UH Drug Discovery Institute.  

“The anti-fentanyl antibodies were specific to fentanyl and a fentanyl derivative and did not cross-react with other opioids, such as morphine. That means a vaccinated person would still be able to be treated for pain relief with other opioids,” said Haile. 

Meanwhile, over 150 people die every day of overdose from synthetic opioids including fentanyl, which is 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine. Just 2 milligrams of fentanyl, or the size of two grains of rice, can be fatal depending on the size of the person.  

“These preclinical results demonstrate efficacy in neutralizing [fentanyl]’s effects and warrant further development as a potential therapeutic for OUD and overdose in humans,” researchers wrote in the study. “We expect minimal side effects in clinical trials because the two components of our formulation (CRM and dmLT) are already in other vaccines on the market or have been tested in multiple human clinical trials and shown to be safe and effective. Further, the effective dose of dmLT used in human clinical trials is comparable to the dose used in the present study. Since low vaccine concentrations elicit adequate anti-[fentanyl] antibody levels, we expect there to be no adverse events when this vaccine is tested in humans.”

The vaccine did not lead to any adverse side effects in the immunized rats that were observed. 

Researchers plan to begin manufacturing a clinical-grade vaccine in the coming months with clinical trials on humans planned soon.  

Efforts are being made to abate the deadly toll fentanyl plays on America. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) announced the results of a widespread drug operation last September, with data spanning May to September, resulting in over 10 million fentanyl pills and what they say is 36 million lethal doses of the drug.

The DEA says that fentanyl is the deadliest drug threat facing this nation. “In 2021, a record number of Americans—107,622—died from a drug poisoning or overdose,” the DEA release reads. “Sixty-six percent of those deaths can be attributed to synthetic opioids such as fentanyl.”

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New York approves first 36 cannabis stores—Here’s the list

The first round of New York dispensary licenses have been awarded. Here are the nonprofit and justice-involved recipients.

The post New York approves first 36 cannabis stores—Here’s the list appeared first on Leafly.

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Russia Signals That Griner Could Be Released, But U.S. Skeptical

A top official in Russia suggested last week that the American basketball star Brittney Griner’s detention could be approaching a resolution, but officials in the United States quickly dismissed those claims.

Sergei Ryabkov, Russia’s deputy foreign minister, said on Friday that there was fresh “activity” surrounding a potential prisoner swap involving Griner, who was transferred to a Russian penal colony earlier this month, and Viktor Bout, the Russian arms dealer currently serving a 25-year prison sentence in the United States.

Ryabkov’s comments were quoted in Russian media.

“We haven’t found common ground yet, but, undoubtedly, Viktor Bout is among those being discussed and obviously we are hoping for a positive result,” Ryabkov said, as reported on by ESPN. “The Americans are showing certain activity and we are working on this through appropriate channels.”

But the State Department splashed cold water on that, saying that Russia has not been a serious party to the negotiations. 

“We are not going to comment on the specifics of any proposals other than to say that we have made a substantial offer that the Russian Federation has consistently failed to negotiate in good faith,” a State Department spokesperson said, as quoted by ESPN. “The U.S. Government has continued to follow up on that offer and propose alternative potential ways forward with the Russian government. The Russian government’s failure to seriously negotiate on these issues in the established channel, or any other channel for that matter runs counter to its public statements.”

The U.S. has proposed a prisoner swap with Russia that would secure the release of both Griner and Paul Whelan, a United States citizen who has been held in Russia since 2018 on espionage charges, in exchange for Bout. But so far, a deal has yet to materialize. 

Griner, a star for the Phoenix Mercury of the WNBA, has been detained in Russia since February, when she was arrested in a Moscow airport on drug charges (officials found cannabis oil in her luggage).

Griner pleaded guilty to the charges in July, but said it was a mistake and that she did not intend to break the law. In August, Griner was convicted by a Russian court, which sentenced her to nine years in prison.

Last month, the court denied Griner’s appeal. 

Earlier this month, Griner’s lawyers confirmed that their client had been transferred to a Russian penal colony.

U.S. officials met with Griner earlier this month for the first time since her arrest in February, when she was returning to Russia to play for UMMC Ekaterinburg, a team for which which she has played during the WNBA’s offseason since 2014.

“We are told she is doing as well as can be expected under the circumstances,” the White House press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre said regarding the meeting. 

“As we have said before, the U.S. government made a significant offer to the Russians to resolve the current unacceptable and wrongful detentions of American citizens Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan,” Jean-Pierre added. “I can also tell you that in the subsequent weeks, despite a lack of good faith negotiation by the Russians, the U.S. government has continued to follow up on that offer and propose alternative potential ways forward with Russians through all available channels.

President Joe Biden, who met with Griner’s family members in September, said in a news conference following the midterm election earlier this month that he is hopeful Russian President Vladimir Putin will be willing to negotiate a release.

“My hope is that now that the election is over, that Mr. Putin will be able to discuss with us and be willing to talk more seriously about a prisoner exchange,” Biden said.

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