NY’s medical marijuana industry: New state rules would drive up prices

New York’s largest medical marijuana trade group is imploring the state’s Office of Cannabis Management to change draft regulations for marijuana packaging and labeling that it says are onerous and out of step with other legal states.

In a letter to OCM, the NY Medical Cannabis Industry Association said the proposed rules would require multistate businesses to create specific packaging for New York. It also asked OCM to be more specific about what lettering and artwork companies can and cannot put on their packaging, rather than language prohibiting anything attractive to people under 21.

“We urge the OCM to reconsider its proposed packaging and labeling rules to better align them with best practices in established regulated markets such as Massachusetts or Colorado,” MCIA President Ngiste Abebe wrote.

New York’s Cannabis Control Board on June 1 approved proposed marketing and packaging regulations that include minimum standards, like requirements that all products be sold in child-proof containers. Packaging can’t include pictures aside from the company’s logo, and must show three state-approved symbols, list the product’s THC and CBD content, contact information for the manufacturer and distributor, and other information, the draft regulations say.