New York State cannabis regulators and labor officials on Thursday announced the launch of a workforce training program aimed at “providing comprehensive safety education to workers” in the state’s legal marijuana industry.
State rules say that all employees of state-licensed cannabis businesses complete the Responsible Workforce Training Program within 30 days of their start date.
Officials and union leaders said in an Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) press release that the novel program will help protect the health and safety of marijuana industry workers.
“We can’t have a successful cannabis industry without investing in its workforce,” Stuart Appelbaum, president of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, said in the OCM release. “In developing the first-in-the-nation Responsible Workforce Training, New York is placing the safety and well-being of workers at the forefront and is demonstrating the essential role cannabis workers play in ensuring the safety of consumers.”
The release says the new program, developed by officials at OCM and the state Department of Labor (DOL), “empowers workers with valuable information on product safety, labor standards, and best practices, fostering a culture of responsibility and compliance across the entire supply chain.”
The Responsible Workforce Training Program consists of four components, including product safety and responsibility, workforce responsibility, license education and implicit bias or cultural competency training.
The first two of those exist as free, online videos published by OCM. The product safety and responsibility video is about an hour long, while the separate workforce responsibility video is about 40 minutes.
After watching the online videos, workers must complete a verification form attesting that they completed the courses.
Workers are also required to complete at least two hours of licensee-provided education “on the specific activities specified by their license,” which can be done through a mix of on-the-job training and written instructional materials.
Additionally, employees must complete at least an hour of training “intended to identify and address unconscious prejudices.”
“Cultural competency training focuses on understanding and respecting diverse cultural backgrounds to improve interactions,” the OCM release says.
Together, the training courses “represent a significant step toward building a workforce empowered with the knowledge and skills necessary to navigate the complexities of the New York cannabis industry,” the office said.
“I’ve spent many hours on site with cannabusinesses and their staff, as well as with communities across our State, so I know how critical occupational safety is to workers in the industry,” Felicia A. B. Reid, OCM’s acting executive director, said in a statement. “In collaboration with DOL, the Responsible Workforce Training provides vital resources that not only promote workplace safety but also ensure the industry remains responsible, transparent, and aligned with New York’s high standards of workforce protection and public health.”
DOL Commissioner Roberta Reardon called it “imperative that we protect all workers and consumers as we continue to safely cultivate our cannabis industry.”
“These trainings will ensure that cannabis workers have the knowledge and skills to safely deliver quality services consumers have come to expect from businesses across the economic spectrum throughout New York State,” Reardon said of the new program.
Separately, OCM’s press secretary recently indicated the office is working on plans to expand permitting and licensing rules that could allow adults to buy and consume marijuana at movie theaters.
Authorizing sales of cannabis products at theaters would set New York apart as it continues to build upon the state’s legalization law.
Days earlier, Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) signed a pair of companion bills into law that are meant to expand New York’s marijuana farmers market program, allowing for more partnerships between licensed cannabis businesses and standalone “pop-up” events.
New York initially authorized cannabis farmers market events in 2023, aiming to expedite consumers access as traditional retailers were being approved and help producers bring their products directly to market. Last December, Hochul separately signed legislation to revive the program after it sunsetted in January 2024.
The farmers market events as originally authorized were largely responsive to the slow roll-out of New York’s adult-use marijuana program, which faced multiple delays in implementation amid litigation. But the state’s industry has gradually expanded, with officials in January touting $1 billion in total sales since the market launched.
Meanwhile, state officials recently launched a grant program that will award up to $30,000 apiece to retail marijuana businesses to help cover startup costs.
Also, earlier this year, a collective of businesses licensed under the CAURD program called on Hochul to forgive tens of millions of dollars in high-cost loans issued under a governor-created social equity loan fund.
Assembly Majority Leader Crystal Peoples-Stokes (D) said in December that there’s a need to extend financial aid to CAURD license holders, many of whom are struggling under the high-cost loans.
Critics—including the NAACP New York State Conference, Black Cannabis Industry Association, Minority Cannabis Business Association, Service Disabled Veterans in Cannabis Association, Drug Policy Alliance, NYC NORML and VOCAL-NY—wrote to the governor earlier that month to express dismay at what they described as marijuana regulators’ “efforts in service of big corporations at the expense of small business and equity outcomes.”
The advocates said at the time that since the departure of the state’s first chief cannabis regulator, Chris Alexander, last may May, state officials had demonstrated a “shift toward corporate interests at the expense of small business, justice-involved entrepreneurs, and Conditional Adult-Use Retail Dispensary (CAURD) licensees who are directly impacted by prior marijuana arrest.”
Last month, regulators also launched a new resource meant to connect licensed marijuana businesses with banks that are willing to work with the industry, even as federal prohibition continues to pose barriers to financial services.
In 2023, the governor signed legislation that aims to make it slightly easier for financial institutions to work with state-licensed cannabis clients.
The law authorized OCM to provide financial institutions with information about marijuana business licensees or applicants, which is meant to ease compliance with reporting requirements. Licensees and applicants would first have to consent to information being shared.
A recent budget proposal from Hochul aims to empower police who claim to smell marijuana to force a driver to take a drug test—a plan that’s drawing pushback not just from reform advocates but also from the state’s Assembly majority leader and the governor-appointed head of OCM.
Meanwhile in New York, the state Senate earlier this month approved a bill to expand housing protections for registered medical marijuana patients, aiming to prevent evictions based solely on their lawful use of cannabis.
Senators this session have also introduced a bill for the 2025 session to broadly decriminalize drug possession.
Several psychedelics bills have also been filed in New York—including one calling for the legalization of certain entheogenic substances such as psilocybin and ibogaine for adults 21 and older.
The governor argued in June, meanwhile, that there’s a direct correlation between stepped-up enforcement and “dramatically” increased legal sales. A report by state officials last year found both “growing pains” and “successful efforts” in New York’s marijuana market launch.
Photo courtesy of Chris Wallis // Side Pocket Images.
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