Early sales in NY could benefit CT grower

Did you miss the webinar “Women Leaders in Cannabis: Shattering the Grass Ceiling?” Head to MJBiz YouTube to watch it now!


Under an “emergency” bill signed last month by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, qualified medical cannabis patients are supposed to receive expedited access to MMJ.

But that hasn’t come to pass, since it’s unclear where legal products would come from. Now, however, there may be an answer: a Connecticut MMJ cultivator.

Curaleaf, a licensed Connecticut MMJ producer, told Crain’s New York Business that it could ship inventory to New York patients “tomorrow” if legal hurdles are worked out.

But therein lies the rub: since cannabis is still illegal at the federal level, Curaleaf wants and needs special permission to provide patients in New York with medicine. To ship inventory across state lines without a specific green light would be running a serious legal hazard.

If Curaleaf gets the go-ahead, that could mean a big spike in business, at least until the New York MMJ market gets up and running, which it’s supposed to do in January. The company first needs assurances from the state and feds that it won’t be prosecuted, and there’s no real indication of whether that will happen.

If it does happen, however, it would also mark the first time in history that a legal marijuana company was permitted by the federal government to move product across state lines, setting a major precedent.