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.

The rules would also prevent weed companies from marketing their products using bright colors, bubble letters, cartoons or other elements that could appeal to people under 21. 
They also ban billboard ads, and advertising anywhere fewer than 90% of the audience is likely to be under 21.

OCM is currently taking suggestions from the public for possible alterations to these proposed rules amid a required 60-day comment period, after which state officials may rewrite the regulations.

In the NYMCIA comments, Abebe said if NY creates packaging and labeling rules that deviate far from those in other legal states, companies that operate in multiple states 
will have to spend significantly more money to make NY-specific containers, which would drive up costs for customers, including medical patients.

“Consumers are very price sensitive, especially in New York, where there is already an accessible and affordable unregulated market,” Abebe wrote. 
“The regulated adult-use prices need to be as competitive as possible to the existing market.”

The NYMCIA asked the state to reconsider the size of warning labels it requires on packaging for marijuana products, and to be specific about what can and cannot appear on retail containers: the prohibition of “neon” colors and “bubble” fonts is ambiguous, the organization said, and OCM should be more specific. Those rules should also be “reasonable,”Abebe wrote, considering that companies are competing with an unregulated market, which has no rules.

The letter also suggested OCM minimize costs for NY’s medical marijana companies by phasing in new requirements. These organizations which will have to change their current 
containers to meet environmental and sustainability rules, in addition to new regulations on lettering and artwork that appears on containers.

Abebe’s letter also pointed out what happened last time the OCM solicited feedback.

“It has been noted that OCM disregarded hundreds of comments in response to the CAURD regulations, which is deeply concerning, especially as OCM is not taking meetings 
or engaging substantively with stakeholders prior to releasing proposed regulations,” Abebe wrote. “We urge the Office to thoughtfully consider feedback and revise its proposed rules accordingly.”