N.Y. Cannabis Law § 10: Powers and duties of the cannabis control board

§ 10. Powers and duties of the cannabis control board. The cannabis

control board or "board" shall have the following functions, powers and

duties as provided for in this chapter:

1. Discretion to issue or refuse to issue any registration, license or

permit provided for in this chapter, as follows: the chairperson, after

receiving a recommendation and relevant application information from the

office and providing such information to all board members, shall issue

a preliminary determination on whether the license, registration or

permit shall be granted, denied, or held for further action. Within

fourteen days of the chairperson's preliminary determination, any board

member may object to the chairperson's preliminary determination, or

request the matter be brought before the full board for consideration.

Any preliminary determination by the chairperson shall take effect

fourteen days after it has been issued by the chairperson, provided that

no board member objects or requests the matter be considered by the full

board, as adopted by the board through resolution.

2. Sole discretion to limit, or not to limit, the number of

registrations, licenses and permits of each class to be issued within

the state or any political subdivision thereof, in a manner that

prioritizes social and economic equity applicants with the goal of fifty

percent awarded to such applicants, and considers small business

opportunities and concerns, avoids market dominance in sectors of the

industry, and reflects the demographics of the state.

3. To revoke, cancel or suspend, after notice and an opportunity to be

heard, any registration, license, or permit issued under this chapter

for a violation of this chapter or any regulation pursuant thereto.

3-a. To impose or recover a civil penalty, as otherwise authorized

under this chapter, against any person found to have violated any

provision of this chapter, whether or not a registration, license, or

permit has been issued to such person pursuant to this chapter.

4. To fix by rule and regulation the standards and requirements of

cultivation, processing, packaging, marketing, and sale of medical

cannabis, adult-use cannabis and cannabis product, and cannabinoid hemp

and hemp extract, including but not limited to, the ability to regulate

excipients, and the types, forms, and concentration of products which

may be manufactured and/or processed, in order to ensure the health and

safety of the public and the use of proper ingredients and methods in

the manufacture of all medical, adult-use, cannabinoid hemp and hemp

extract to be sold or consumed in the state and to ensure that products

are not packaged, marketed, or otherwise sold in a way which targets

minors or promotes increased use or cannabis use disorders.

5. To limit or prohibit, at any time of public emergency and without

previous notice or advertisement, the cultivation, processing,

distribution or sale of any or all cannabis products, medical cannabis

or cannabinoid hemp and hemp extract, for and during the period of such

emergency.

6. To hold hearings, subpoena witnesses, compel their attendance,

administer oaths, to examine any person under oath and in connection

therewith to require the production of any books or records relative to

the inquiry. A subpoena issued under this section shall be regulated by

the civil practice law and rules.

7. To appoint any necessary directors, deputies, counsels, assistants,

investigators, and other employees within the limits provided by

appropriation. Directors, deputies and counsels, including the chief

equity officer, and confidential secretaries to board members shall be

in the exempt class of the civil service. The other assistants,

investigators and employees of the office shall all be in the

competitive class of the civil service and shall be considered for

purposes of article fourteen of the civil service law to be public

employees of the state, and shall be assigned to the appropriate

bargaining unit. Investigators so employed by the office shall be deemed

to be peace officers only for the purposes of enforcing the provisions

of this chapter or judgments or orders obtained for violation thereof,

with all the powers set forth in section 2.20 of the criminal procedure

law. Employees transferred to the office shall be transferred without

further examination or qualification to the same or similar titles and

shall remain in the same collective bargaining units and shall retain

their respective civil service classifications, status and rights

pursuant to their collective bargaining units and collective bargaining

agreements. Employees serving in positions in newly created titles shall

be assigned to the appropriate collective bargaining unit as they would

have been assigned to were such titles created prior to the

establishment of the office of cannabis management. Any action taken

under this subdivision shall be subject to and in accordance with the

civil service law. The executive director shall appoint a deputy

director for health and safety who shall be a licensed health care

practitioner within the state and who shall oversee all clinical aspects

of the office.

8. To conduct regulatory inspections of any place of business,

including a vehicle used for such business, where medical cannabis,

adult-use cannabis, cannabis, cannabis product, cannabinoid hemp, hemp

extract products, or any products marketed or labeled as such, are

cultivated, processed, stored, distributed or sold by any person holding

a registration, license, or permit under this chapter, or by any person

who is engaging in activity for which a license would be required under

this chapter. For the purposes of this subdivision, "place of business"

shall not include a residence or other real property not otherwise held

out as open to the public or otherwise being utilized in a business or

commercial manner or any private vehicle on or about the same such

property, unless probable cause exists to believe that such residence,

real property, or vehicle are being used in such business or commercial

manner for the activity described herein.

9. To prescribe forms of applications for registrations, licenses and

permits under this chapter and of all reports deemed necessary by the

board.

10. To appoint such advisory groups and committees as deemed necessary

to provide assistance to the board to carry out the purposes and

objectives of this chapter.

11. To exercise the powers and perform the duties in relation to the

administration of the board and the office of cannabis management as are

necessary but not specifically vested by this chapter, including but not

limited to budgetary and fiscal matters.

12. To develop and establish minimum criteria for certifying employees

to work in the cannabis industry in positions requiring advanced

training and education.

13. To enter into contracts, memoranda of understanding, and

agreements as deemed appropriate to effectuate the policy and purpose of

this chapter.

14. To advise the office of cannabis management and/or urban

development corporation in making low interest or zero-interest loans to

qualified social and economic equity applicants as provided for in this

chapter.

15. If public health, safety, or welfare imperatively requires

emergency action, and incorporates a finding to that effect in an order,

summary suspension of a license may be ordered, effective on the date

specified in such order or upon service of a certified copy of such

order on the licensee, whichever shall be later, pending proceedings for

revocation or other action. These proceedings shall be promptly

instituted and determined. In addition, the board may be directed to

order the administrative seizure of product, issue a stop order, or take

any other action necessary to effectuate and enforce the policy and

purpose of this chapter.

16. To draft and provide for public comment and issue regulations,

declaratory rulings, guidance and industry advisories.

17. To draft and provide an annual report on the effectiveness of this

chapter. The annual report shall be prepared, in consultation with the

division of the budget, the urban development corporation, the

department of taxation and finance, the department of health, department

of agriculture and markets, office of addiction services and supports,

office of mental health, New York state police, department of motor

vehicles and the division of criminal justice services. The report shall

provide, but not be limited to, the following information:

(a) the number of registrations, licenses, and permits applied for by

geographic region of the state; the number of registrations, licenses,

and permits approved or denied by geographic region of the state;

(b) the economic and fiscal impacts associated with this chapter,

including revenue from licensing or other fees, fines and taxation

related to the cultivation, distribution and sale of cannabis for

medical and adult-use and cannabinoid hemp and hemp extract in this

state;

(c) specific programs and progress made by the cannabis control board

and the office of cannabis management in achieving the goals of the

social and economic equity plan, and other social justice goals

including, but not limited to, restorative justice, minority- and

women-owned businesses, distressed farmers and service disabled

veterans;

(d) demographic data on owners and employees in the medical cannabis,

adult-use cannabis and cannabinoid hemp and hemp extract industry;

(e) impacts to public health and safety, including substance use

disorder;

(f) impacts associated with public safety, including, but not limited

to, traffic-related issues, law enforcement, under-age prevention in

relation to accessing adult-use cannabis, and efforts to eliminate the

illegal market for cannabis products in New York;

(g) any other information or data deemed significant; and

(h) the board shall make recommendations regarding the appropriate

level of taxation of adult-use cannabis, as well as changes necessary

to: improve registration, licensing and permitting; promoting and

encouraging social and economic equity applicants; improve and protect

the public health and safety of New Yorkers; improve access and

availability for substance abuse treatment programs; and any other

recommendations deemed necessary and appropriate. Such report shall be

published on the office's website and presented to the governor, the

majority leader of the senate and the speaker of the assembly, no later

than January first, two thousand twenty-three and annually thereafter.

18. When an administrative decision is appealed to the board by an

applicant, registered organization, licensee or permittee, issue a final

determination of the office.

19. Approve the opening of new license application periods, and when

new or additional licenses are made available pursuant to this chapter,

provided, however, that the initial adult-use cannabis retail dispensary

license application period shall be opened for all applicants at the

same time.

20. Approve any price quotas or price controls set by the executive

director as provided by this chapter.

21. Approve the office's social and economic equity plan pursuant to

section eighty-four of this chapter.

22. To enter into tribal-state compacts and other agreements with the

New York state Indian nations and tribes, as defined by section two of

the Indian law, authorizing such Indian nations or tribes to acquire,

possess, manufacture, sell, deliver, transport, distribute or dispense

adult-use cannabis and/or medical cannabis.

23. With the exception of promulgating rules and regulations, the

board shall have the power to delegate any functions, powers and duties

as provided for in this section to the executive director of the office

of cannabis management. Any such delegation shall be through a

resolution voted on and approved by the board members.

24. The board shall, two years after the first retail sale pursuant to

this chapter, review the impact of licenses issued pursuant to article

four of this chapter with substantial market share for any category of

licensure, to determine if such licensees are impairing the achievement

of the goals of inclusion of social equity licensees, fairness for small

businesses and distressed farmers, adequate supplies of cannabis and

prevention of dominant marketplace participation in the cannabis

industry. The board may modify the terms of the licensee's license

consistent with the determination and to better achieve those goals. Any

such modification may be appealed by the licensee for a formal hearing

as provided in section seventeen of this article. For any licensee such

review shall include violations of New York state labor law and labor

peace agreements. Further, an existing collective bargaining agreement

shall not be infringed or voided by any licensee who after such review

suffers from a reduction in market share.