Legalize and Tax Marijuana

Section 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "marihuana regulation and taxation act".

§ 2. Chapter 7-A of the consolidated laws is enacted, to read as follows:

CHAPTER 7-A OF THE CONSOLIDATED LAWS

CANNABIS LAW

ARTICLE 1

SHORT TITLE; LEGISLATIVE FINDINGS AND INTENT;

DEFINITIONS Section 1. Short title.

2. Legislative findings and intent.

3. Definitions.

Section 1. Short title. This chapter shall be known and may be cited and referred to as the "cannabis law".

§ 2. Legislative findings and intent. The legislature finds that existing marihuana laws have not been beneficial to the welfare of the general public. Existing laws have been ineffective in reducing or curbing marihuana use and have instead resulted in devastating collateral consequences including mass incarceration and other complex generational trauma, that inhibit an otherwise law-abiding citizen's ability to access housing, employment opportunities, and other vital services. Existing laws have also created an illicit market which represents a threat to public health and reduces the ability of the legislature to deter the accessing of marihuana by minors. Existing marihuana laws have disproportionately impacted African-American and Latinx communities.

The intent of this act is to regulate, control, and tax marihuana, heretofore known as cannabis, generate significant new revenue, make substantial investments in communities and people most impacted by marihuana criminalization to address the collateral consequences of such criminalization, prevent access to cannabis by those under the age of twenty-one years, reduce the illegal drug market and reduce violent crime, reduce participation of otherwise law-abiding citizens in the illicit market, end the racially disparate impact of existing cannabis laws, create new industries and increase employment and strengthen New York's agriculture sector.

Nothing in this act is intended to limit the authority of any district government agency or office or employers to enact and enforce policies pertaining to cannabis in the workplace, to allow driving under the

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influence of cannabis, to allow individuals to engage in conduct that endangers others, to allow smoking cannabis in any location where smoking tobacco is prohibited, or to require any individual to engage in any conduct that violates federal law or to exempt anyone from any requirement of federal law or pose any obstacle to the federal enforcement of federal law.

The legislature further finds and declares that it is in the best interest of the state to regulate medical cannabis, adult-use cannabis, cannabinoid hemp and hemp extracts under independent entities, known as the cannabis control board and the office of cannabis management.

§ 3. Definitions. Whenever used in this chapter, unless otherwise expressly stated or unless the context or subject matter requires a different meaning, the following terms shall have the representative meanings hereinafter set forth or indicated:

1. "Applicant" means a resident of New York state who is a citizen of the United States or a person lawfully admitted for permanent residency in the United States aged twenty-one years or older applying for any cannabis or hemp licenses or special use permits issued by the New York state cannabis control board pursuant to this chapter; provided, however applicants for hemp licenses may be aged eighteen years or older.

2. "Cannabinoid" means the phytocannabinoids found in hemp and does not include synthetic cannabinoids as that term is defined in subdivision (g) of schedule I of section thirty-three hundred six of the public health law.

3. "Cannabinoid hemp" means any hemp and any product processed or derived from hemp, that is used for human consumption provided that when such product is packaged or offered for retail sale to a consumer, it shall not have a concentration of more than three tenths of a percent delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol.

4. "Cannabinoid hemp processor license" means a license granted by the department to process, extract, pack or manufacture cannabinoid hemp or hemp extract into products, whether in intermediate or final form, used for human consumption.

5. "Cannabis" means all parts of the plant of the genus Cannabis, whether growing or not; the seeds thereof; the resin extracted from any part of the plant; and every compound, manufacture, salt, derivative, mixture, or preparation of the plant, its seeds or resin. It does not include the mature stalks of the plant, fiber produced from the stalks, oil or cake made from the seeds of the plant, any other compound, manufacture, salt, derivative, mixture, or preparation of the mature stalks (except the resin extracted therefrom), fiber, oil, or cake, or the sterilized seed of the plant which is incapable of germination. It does not include hemp, cannabinoid hemp or hemp extract as defined by this section.

6. "Cannabis consumer" means a person twenty-one years of age or older acting in accordance with any provision of this chapter.

7. "Cannabis control board" means the New York state cannabis control board created pursuant to article two of this chapter.

8. "Cannabis flower" means the flower of a plant of the genus Cannabis that has been harvested, dried, and cured, prior to any processing whereby the plant material is transformed into a concentrate, including, but not limited to, concentrated cannabis, or an edible or topical product containing cannabis or concentrated cannabis and other ingredients. Cannabis flower excludes leaves and stem.

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9. "Cannabis product" or "adult-use cannabis product" means cannabis, concentrated cannabis, and cannabis-infused products for use by a cannabis consumer.

10. "Cannabis-infused products" means products that have been manufactured and contain either cannabis or concentrated cannabis and other ingredients that are intended for use or consumption.

11. "Cannabis trim" means all parts of the plant of the genus Cannabis other than cannabis flower that have been harvested, dried, and cured, but prior to any further processing.

12. "Caring for" means treating a patient, in the course of which the practitioner has completed a full assessment of the patient's medical history and current medical condition.

13. "Certification" means a certification made under this chapter.

14. "Certified medical use" includes the acquisition, administration, cultivation, manufacture, delivery, harvest, possession, preparation, transfer, transportation, or use of cannabis or paraphernalia relating to the administration of cannabis to treat or alleviate a certified patient's medical condition or symptoms associated with the patient's medical condition.

15. "Certified patient" means a patient who is a resident of New York state or receiving care and treatment in New York state as determined by the board in regulation, and is certified under this chapter.

16. "Chief equity officer" means the chief equity officer of the office of cannabis management.

17. "Commercial cannabis activity" means the production, cultivation, manufacturing, processing, possession, storing, laboratory testing, packaging, labeling, transportation, delivery, or sale of cannabis and cannabis products as provided for in this chapter.

18. "Concentrated cannabis" means: (a) the separated resin, whether crude or purified, obtained from a plant of the genus Cannabis; or (b) a material, preparation, mixture, compound or other substance which contains more than three percent by weight of delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol, or its isomer, delta-8 dibenzopyran numbering system, or delta-1 tetrahydrocannabinol or its isomer, delta 1 (6) monoterpene numbering system.

19. "Condition" means having one of the following conditions: cancer, positive status for human immunodeficiency virus or acquired immune deficiency syndrome, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, damage to the nervous tissue of the spinal cord with objective neurological indication of intractable spasticity, epilepsy, inflammatory bowel disease, neuropathies, Huntington's disease, posttraumatic stress disorder, pain that degrades health and functional capability where the use of medical cannabis is an alternative to opioid use, substance use disorder, Alzheimer's, muscular dystrophy, dystonia, rheumatoid arthritis, autism or any other condition certified by the practitioner.

20. "Cultivation" means growing, cloning, harvesting, drying, curing, grading, and trimming of cannabis plants for sale to certain other categories of cannabis license- and permit-holders.

21. "Delivery" means the direct delivery of cannabis products by a retail licensee, microbusiness licensee, or delivery license holder to a cannabis consumer.

22. "Designated caregiver facility" means a general hospital or residential health care facility operating pursuant to article twenty-eight of the public health law; an adult care facility operating pursuant to title two of article seven of the social services law; a community

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mental health residence established pursuant to section 41.44 of the mental hygiene law; a hospital operating pursuant to section 7.17 of the mental hygiene law; a mental hygiene facility operating pursuant to article thirty-one of the mental hygiene law; an inpatient or residential treatment program certified pursuant to article thirty-two of the mental hygiene law; a residential facility for the care and treatment of persons with developmental disabilities operating pursuant to article sixteen of the mental hygiene law; a residential treatment facility for children and youth operating pursuant to article thirty-one of the mental hygiene law; a private or public school; research institution with an internal review board; or any other facility as determined by the board in regulation; that registers with the office to assist one or more certified patients with the acquisition, possession, delivery, transportation or administration of medical cannabis.

23. "Designated caregiver" means an individual designated by a certified patient in a registry application. A certified patient may designate up to five designated caregivers not counting designated caregiver facilities or designated caregiver facilities' employees.

24. "Designated caregiver facility employee" means an employee of a designated caregiver facility.

25. "Distributor" means any person who sells at wholesale any cannabis product, except medical cannabis, for the sale of which a license is required under the provisions of this chapter.

26. "Executive director" means the executive director of the office of cannabis management.

27. "Form of medical cannabis" means characteristics of the medical cannabis recommended or limited for a particular certified patient, including the method of consumption and any particular strain, variety, and quantity or percentage of cannabis or particular active ingredient.

28. "Hemp" means the plant Cannabis sativa L. and any part of such plant, including the seeds thereof and all derivatives, extracts, cannabinoids, isomers, acids, salts, and salts of isomers, whether growing or not, with a delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol concentration (THC) of not more than three-tenths of a percent on a dry weight basis. It shall not include "medical cannabis" as defined in this section.

29. "Hemp extract" means all derivatives, extracts, cannabinoids, isomers, acids, salts, and salts of isomers derived from hemp, used or intended for human consumption, for its cannabinoid content, with a delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol concentration of not more than an amount determined by the department in regulation. For the purpose of this article, hemp extract excludes (a) any food, food ingredient or food additive that is generally recognized as safe pursuant to federal law; or (b) any hemp extract that is not used for human consumption. Such excluded substances shall not be regulated pursuant to the provisions of this article but are subject to other provisions of applicable state law, rules and regulations.

30. "Labor peace agreement" means an agreement between an entity and a labor organization that, at a minimum, protects the state's proprietary interests by prohibiting labor organizations and members from engaging in picketing, work stoppages, boycotts, and any other economic interference with the entity.

31. "Laboratory testing facility" means any independent laboratory capable of testing cannabis and cannabis products for adult-use and medical-use; cannabinoid hemp and hemp extract; or for all categories of cannabis and cannabis products as per regulations set forth by the state cannabis control board.

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32. "License" means a written authorization as provided under this chapter permitting persons to engage in a specified activity authorized pursuant to this chapter.

33. "Licensee" means an individual or an entity who has been granted a license under this chapter.

34. "Medical cannabis" means cannabis as defined in this section, intended for a certified medical use, as determined by the board in consultation with the commissioner of health.

35. "Microbusiness" means a licensee that may act as a cannabis producer for the cultivation of cannabis, a cannabis processor, a cannabis distributor and a cannabis retailer under this article; provided such licensee complies with all requirements imposed by this article on licensed producers, processors, distributors and retailers to the extent the licensee engages in such activities.

36. "Nursery" means a licensee that produces only clones, immature plants, seeds, and other agricultural products used specifically for the planting, propagation, and cultivation of cannabis.

37. "Office" or "office of cannabis management" means the New York state office of cannabis management.

38. "On-site consumption" means the consumption of cannabis in an area licensed as provided for in this chapter.