PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. (WCAX) – Gov. Kathy Hochul has ordered a revamp of New York’s Office of Cannabis Management following a 30-day evaluation.
Marijuana dispensaries in New York’s North Country say they are struggling to grow their customer base because people simply do not know they exist due to advertising restrictions.
Brent Rodgers, who owns the Grass Hole Dispensary in Plattsburgh, says it has been a struggle to get people in the door.
“It’s just hard because we have people still come in every day. We’ve been open for four months now and people still come in and they’re like, ‘Oh, we didn’t know this was here and we live right down the road,’” Rodgers said.
Last September, Leafly, a third-party platform, filed a lawsuit against New York’s Office of Cannabis Management challenging their marketing rules. The court agreed with Leafly that the Office of Cannabis Management did not provide a factual basis for the previous marketing ban. And just last month, New York’s cannabis marketing regulations were struck down by the Albany County Supreme Court.
Under the current marketing plan, cannabis dispensaries can advertise and market on third-party sites but retailers say this is not enough to grow their customer base.
“We’ve looked into some marketing agencies locally, a couple of them just completely declined to work with us because they read the regulations have been like, ‘Oh, like, what are we even gonna be able to do? Like, how are we even gonna be able to market your company with these restrictions? Like it’s just not worth our time,’” said Eli Emery, the general manager of Elevate ADK.
Cannabis businesses must make sure that 90% of the viewing audience of an advertisement is over 21, so they cannot do print, TV or radio advertisements. Under these restrictions, dispensaries are only allowed two signs on the exterior of the storefront, no bright colors or cannabis-like leaves, flowers or smoke on the signs. Typical cannabis-like words are not allowed in the name of the business.
“If you’re a brewery, you can sponsor local events, right? If you’re a cannabis company, you can’t do that right now,” said Tim Branfalt, who teaches a class at SUNY Plattsburgh about cannabis.
Branfalt says the stigma around cannabis needs to change so the legal marketplace can thrive.
“So how are you supposed to engage with the community, right, and be a good steward of the community if you’re not allowed in the community?” Branfalt said.
The Office of Cannabis Management is developing new regulations that do not violate the court order. Emery hopes these new regulations will be similar to those for alcohol.
“You can go to a wine store or liquor store, and they can have their own promotion, they can tell you that, ‘Hey, if you buy 10 bottles of wine, we’ll give you a free bottle of wine.’ We’re not allowed to discount things, we’re not allowed to even advertise that we’ve lowered a price,” Emery said.
He says in order for them to stay in operation, changes need to be made for them to keep customers and acquire new ones.