Jeremy Cooney

Governor Kathy Hochul (D) ordered a review of the state’s cannabis licensing process, nearly two months after saying she was fed up with the slow rollout of the marijuana market. Hochul asked officials to find a solution to the inefficient cannabis licensing scheme amid a growing number of...

New York’s ambitious crackdown on unlicensed cannabis retailers has hit a significant roadblock. Despite imposing over $25 million in fines since 2023, the state has barely recouped any of the levied amounts. This issue underscores the challenges faced by Gov. Kathy Hochul’s...

Since the approval of the Marijuana Regulation & Taxation Act in 2021, New York’s journey towards a flourishing legal cannabis market has been fraught with challenges. Regulatory hurdles and a thriving illicit market have hindered the growth expected by industry stakeholders and...

Governor Kathy Hochul announced the biggest leap forward for New York's legal cannabis market. With an array of licenses up for grabs, individuals and businesses can now participate in the legal production, processing, distribution and sale of cannabis. As of Oct. 4, the application period...

On Monday, a state Supreme Court judge ordered a temporary halt on the issuance of new Conditional Adult-Use Retail Dispensaries (CAURD) licenses in New York. What Happened:  Justice Kevin Bryant ruled that without a court order blocking the licensing program “immediate and...

Washington State Introduces Online Portal For Refunding Unconstitutional Drug Prosecution Fees Washington now has an online portal for the thousands who face legal fees due to their prosecution under drug criminalization laws, which were subsequently deemed unconstitutional...

Gov. Kathy Hochul signed a measure on Wednesday proposing penalties for the unlicensed and illicit sale of cannabis across New York State. The new legislation allows the Office of Cannabis Management to issue civil penalties against unlicensed cannabis businesses with fines...

As the Empire State continues to struggle with illicit weed operations, State Senator Jeremy Cooney (D-Rochester), chair of a new state Senate Subcommittee on Cannabis, says there's no time to waste. “A lot of the debate in the Legislature is about how big the fines...

Minnesota House To Vote Next Week Rep. Zack Stephenson (D) says his bill to legalize adult-use cannabis in Minnesota has been scheduled for a vote in the state House on Monday. The measure has advanced through 16 committees so far, and it would allow 21-year-olds to purchase and use recreational...

An injunction preventing New York state regulators from issuing licenses for marijuana sales across various regions was lifted Tuesday by a federal court. This means that the Office of Cannabis Management can now issue sales licenses to cannabis businesses in Central and Western New...

Do Medicaid and Medicare cover medical marijuana? The short answer is no, even though one in five Medicare recipients are users of medical cannabis, according to last year's poll by the Medicare Plans Patient Resource Center. In that Medicare and Medicaid are federal health...

New York State Senator Jeremy Cooney introduced a bill Wednesday that could change the current marijuana tax structure. Under the proposed measure (S4831), marijuana tax would be taxed at a flat 20% rate, versus the current tax, which is based on THC potency and flower weight,...

New York State Senator Jeremy Cooney reintroduced a marijuana-related bill that aims to put medical marijuana under insurance coverage. The legislation, S8837 was first introduced in the previous legislative session by State Sen. Diane Savino (D) In June, NY's state Senate...

The first adult-use cannabis sales in New York began on Dec. 29, nearly 20 months after former Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed recreational marijuana into law. The state began issuing cultivation licenses to more than 200 farms last spring, and now thousands of pounds of weed, worth hundreds of...

New York senator Michelle Hinchey filed legislation called “Cannabis Container Bill of Rights,” which pushes for recycling across the cannabis industry once retail sales officially begin, reported Marijuana Moment. The measure asks marijuana shops to...