Government
New York CAURD Application Portal FAQ
In the leadup to the Office of Cannabis Management (“OCM”) application portal opening date of August 25, 2022 for Conditional Adult Use Retail Dispensary (“CAURD”) licenses we have received a few repeat questions from our clients regarding the application.
This list of frequently asked questions is by no means the entirety of the questions we receive, but many of the same questions keep arising and this should provide concise answers to some lingering questions you may have.
What documents can an applicant submit as proof of criminal record(s) to the OCM?
To satisfy this important requirement for the justice-involved applicants, the OCM has laid out a multitude of acceptable forms of proof of criminal record(s) and/or conviction(s). Below is a non-exhaustive list of documents that can be provided to the OCM to satisfy this requirement.
- A Certificate of Disposition (This can be requested by the convicted individual from the court that sentenced them. Some courts may charge a small fee to obtain a Certificate of Disposition)
- A record of judgment and conviction;
- A record of plea, verdict and sentence;
- A docket entry from court records that indicates the existence of a conviction;
- Minutes of a court proceeding or a transcript of a hearing that indicates the existence of a conviction;
- An arrest record that indicates the existence of a conviction;
- A police file that indicates the existence of a conviction;
- Health Records that indicate the existence of a conviction;
- Notarized attorneys’ letters that indicate the existence of a conviction; or
- Results from a criminal history background check.
How does an applicant submit their fingerprints to the OCM?
Applicants will not be required to provide fingerprints until the final stages of the application process. Selected applicants will be notified by the OCM when they must submit this as part of their application.
What is the Freedom of Information Law request in reference to and what does the OCM need from each applicant?
Each applicant is required to designate each portion of their application that the applicant considers to be exempt from disclosure under the NYS Freedom of Information Law (“FOIL”). As a State run entity, the OCM will disclose records in response to FOIL requests as required by the relevant Public Officers Law.
If an applicant believes that information submitted in their application should be exempt from disclosure as “trade secrets” or “critical infrastructure information,” the applicant should request such an exception. Information constituting trade secrets or critical infrastructure information for purposes of FOIL should be clearly marked and identified as such by the applicant upon submission. Each page containing such information should contain a footer notifying the OCM that the material on the page is requested to be exempt from disclosure under FOIL.
Do applicants need a labor peace agreement (“LPA”) submitted in connection with their application?
An LPA is not required to apply for a CAURD license, but selected applicants will be required to enter into an LPA with a bona fide labor organization prior to final license award.
Are applicants required to submit insurance documents in connection with their application?
Applicants will not be required to provide this until the final stages of the application process, which will be made clear as you go through the online application. Selected applicants will be notified by the OCM when they must submit this as part of their application.
Do applicants need to submit a Business Continuity Plan in connection with their application?
Applicants will not be required to provide a Business Continuity Plan until the final stages of the application process, which will be made clear as you go through the online application. Selected applicants will be notified by the Office when they must submit this as part of their application.
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As you we have written before, for anyone interested in applying once the CUARD application portal opens on August 25th , we strongly recommend contacting an experienced cannabis attorney (including us!) and not just utilizing the responses above to complete your application. Stay tuned for further developments as the CAURD licensing portal opens next week and additional information rolls in.
Source: https://harrisbricken.com/cannalawblog/new-york-caurd-application-portal-faq/
New Mexico regulators fined a cannabis operator nearly $300,000 and revoked its license after the company allegedly created fake reports in the state’s traceability software.
The New Mexico Cannabis Control Division (CCD) accused marijuana manufacturer and retailer Golden Roots of 11 violations, according to Albuquerque Business First.
Golden Roots operates the The Cannabis Revolution Dispensary.
The majority of the violations are related to the Albuquerque company’s improper use of BioTrack, which has been New Mexico’s track-and-trace vendor since 2015.
The CCD alleges Golden Roots reported marijuana production only two months after it had received its vertically integrated license, according to Albuquerque Business First.
Because cannabis takes longer than two months to be cultivated, the CCD was suspicious of the report.
After inspecting the company’s premises, the CCD alleged Golden Roots reported cultivation, transportation and sales in BioTrack but wasn’t able to provide officers who inspected the site evidence that the operator was cultivating cannabis.
In April, the CCD revoked Golden Roots’ license and issued a $10,000 fine, according to the news outlet.
The company requested a hearing, which the regulator scheduled for Sept. 1.
At the hearing, the CCD testified that the company’s dried-cannabis weights in BioTrack were suspicious because they didn’t seem to accurately reflect how much weight marijuana loses as it dries.
Company employees also poorly accounted for why they were making adjustments in the system of up to 24 pounds of cannabis, making comments such as “bad” or “mistake” in the software, Albuquerque Business First reported.
Golden Roots was fined $298,972.05 – the amount regulators allege the company made selling products that weren’t properly accounted for in BioTrack.
The CCD has been cracking down on cannabis operators accused of selling products procured from out-of-state or not grown legally:
- Regulators alleged in August that Albuquerque dispensary Sawmill Sweet Leaf sold out-of-state products and didn’t have a license for extraction.
- Paradise Exotics Distro lost its license in July after regulators alleged the company sold products made in California.
Golden Roots was the first alleged rulebreaker in New Mexico to be asked to pay a large fine.
Source: https://mjbizdaily.com/new-mexico-cannabis-operator-fined-loses-license-for-alleged-biotrack-fraud/
Four marijuana companies, including a multistate operator, have filed a lawsuit against U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland in which they allege the federal MJ prohibition under the Controlled Substances Act is no longer constitutional.
According to the complaint, filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Massachusetts, retailer Canna Provisions, Treevit delivery service CEO Gyasi Sellers, cultivator Wiseacre Farm and MSO Verano Holdings Corp. are all harmed by “the federal government’s unconstitutional ban on cultivating, manufacturing, distributing, or possessing intrastate marijuana.”
Verano is headquartered in Chicago but has operations in Massachusetts; the other three operators are based in Massachusetts.
The lawsuit seeks a ruling that the “Controlled Substances Act is unconstitutional as applied to the intrastate cultivation, manufacture, possession, and distribution of marijuana pursuant to state law.”
The companies want the case to go before the U.S. Supreme Court.
They hired prominent law firm Boies Schiller Flexner to represent them.
The New York-based firm’s principal is David Boies, whose former clients include Microsoft, former presidential candidate Al Gore and Elizabeth Holmes’ disgraced startup Theranos.
Similar challenges to the federal Controlled Substances Act (CSA) have failed.
One such challenge led to a landmark Supreme Court decision in 2005.
In Gonzalez vs. Raich, the highest court in the United States ruled in a 6-3 decision that the commerce clause of the U.S. Constitution gave Congress the power to outlaw marijuana federally, even though state laws allow the cultivation and sale of cannabis.
In the 18 years since that ruling, 23 states and the District of Columbia have legalized adult-use marijuana and the federal government has allowed a multibillion-dollar cannabis industry to thrive.
Since both Congress and the U.S. Department of Justice, currently headed by Garland, have declined to intervene in state-licensed marijuana markets, the key facts that led to the Supreme Court’s 2005 ruling “no longer apply,” Boies said in a statement Thursday.
“The Supreme Court has since made clear that the federal government lacks the authority to regulate purely intrastate commerce,” Boies said.
“Moreover, the facts on which those precedents are based are no longer true.”
Verano President Darren Weiss said in a statement the company is “prepared to bring this case all the way to the Supreme Court in order to align federal law with how Congress has acted for years.”
While the Biden administration’s push to reschedule marijuana would help solve marijuana operators’ federal tax woes, neither rescheduling nor modest Congressional reforms such as the SAFER Banking Act “solve the fundamental issue,” Weiss added.
“The application of the CSA to lawful state-run cannabis business is an unconstitutional overreach on state sovereignty that has led to decades of harm, failed businesses, lost jobs, and unsafe working conditions.”
Alabama regulators are targeting Dec. 1 to award the first batch of medical cannabis business licenses after the agency’s first two attempts were scrapped because of scoring errors and litigation.
The first licenses will be awarded to individual cultivators, delivery providers, processors, dispensaries and state testing labs, according to the Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission (AMCC).
Then, on Dec. 12, the AMCC will award licenses for vertically integrated operations, a designation set primarily for multistate operators.
Licenses are expected to be handed out 28 days after they have been awarded, so MMJ production could begin in early January, according to the Alabama Daily News.
That means MMJ products could be available for patients around early March, an AMCC spokesperson told the media outlet.
Regulators initially awarded 21 business licenses in June, only to void them after applicants alleged inconsistencies with how the applications were scored.
Then, in August, the state awarded 24 different licenses – 19 went to June recipients – only to reverse themselves again and scratch those licenses after spurned applicants filed lawsuits.
A state judge dismissed a lawsuit filed by Chicago-based MSO Verano Holdings Corp., but another lawsuit is pending.
Source: https://mjbizdaily.com/alabama-plans-to-award-medical-cannabis-licenses-dec-1/
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