The Albany County Supreme Court in New York on Wednesday ruled in favor of cannabis technology firm Leafly in its lawsuit against the cannabis industry’s marketing and advertising regulations, striking down the provisions outright, Politico reports. The ruling also temporarily invalidated the state’s adult-use regulations outright but the court course-corrected on Thursday to narrow the ruling to just the marketing and advertising rules.
Leafly filed its lawsuit against the state in September, arguing that the industry rules should not prevent dispensaries from marketing or fulfilling orders via a third-party platform.
State Sen. Jeremy Cooney (D), Chair of the Senate Subcommittee on Cannabis, said the ruling was unfortunate for the industry.
“Today’s State Supreme Court decision was another setback in a series of blows New York’s adult-use cannabis market has faced since legalization, three years ago. While some changes to marketing regulations are needed, the decision by the Court to throw out all agency regulations will ultimately slow progress at a time when we need to more aggressively combat illicit shops to grow a stronger, more-equitable legal market.” – Cooney, in a statement
The ruling is only the latest development in the state’s botched adult-use cannabis roll-out — the nascent industry’s licensing process was delayed by multiple lawsuits from its outset while the illicit market proliferated, largely unchecked, for months. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D), who called the industry’s launch a “disaster,” last month ordered an audit of the adult-use cannabis program.
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