New York Approves Plans to Allow Cannabis ‘Showcases’ & Sales at Public Events

New York cannabis regulators on Wednesday voted to approve a “cannabis showcase” program that would allow growers to sell products to the public at events, NBC 5 reports. The Cannabis Showcase will allow growers to partner with adult-use cannabis retailers and processors to organize events for showcasing New York products. 

The showcases must include a minimum of three licensed cultivators, partnering with a licensed adult-use dispensary to sell licensed and tested cannabis products to customers. The events are only allowed in municipalities that allow for retail cannabis sales and the events must have a predominantly adult population. 

The Office of Cannabis Management also gave the green light for cannabis to be sold at concerts, festivals, and other events, the Times-Union reports. During the meeting, the agency approved another 212 conditional adult-use cannabis licenses. 

The approval of the cannabis showcases and sales at events comes as New York farmers are sitting on hundreds of thousands of pounds of unsold cannabis due to the slow rollout of retail sales in the state. New York legalized cannabis more than two years ago but only 16 licensed dispensaries have opened across the state for retail sales, while another four have been approved for delivery-only sales as they work to build out their brick-and-mortar locations.