"The vision of legalization was clear: repair the harms of prohibition, open the doors of opportunity to entrepreneurs shut out of traditional industries, and build a market rooted in equity and inclusion. Instead, the system we have today is leaving too many behind. Licensing delays, confusing regulations, and the absence of promised support are squeezing out small operators while those with the deepest pockets position themselves to dominate."
"What we're seeing is an industry built on the language of equity but sustained by barriers that block the very entrepreneurs it was designed to help. Take the rollout of BioTrack, the state's first seed-to-sale tracking system that's supposed to root out product illegally trafficked into the state and introduced into the legal market. The implementation was riddled with delays that left operators in limbo-unable to properly log inventory or complete required compliance steps."
"Just as businesses were beginning to adapt, the state abruptly announced a shift to a new platform, Metrc, forcing operators to retool their systems and retrain staff. For small businesses already running on razor-thin margins, the confusion from the state along with the disruption has meant lost time, lost money, and yet another roadblock to competing in a market where every day counts."
New York's cannabis market exceeded $2 billion in sales while many licensed small businesses are not sharing the gains. The state needs permanent leadership at the regulatory agency to address regulatory failures. Legalization aimed to repair prohibition harms and build an equitable, inclusive market, but licensing delays, confusing regulations, and lack of promised support are squeezing small operators and enabling well-capitalized entities to dominate. The initial seed-to-sale system, BioTrack, faced implementation delays that prevented proper inventory logging and compliance. The abrupt switch to Metrc forced retooling and retraining, causing lost time and money for margin-thin operators.
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