As New York’s cannabis industry roots take root and takes shape, lawmakers and hemp growers are pushing for action in the 2022 legislative session to expand the use of industrialized hemp by cannabis entrepreneurs. creating new opportunities for farmers.
New legislation proposed by Senate Agriculture Committee Chair Michelle Hinchey, D-Saugerties, would require the state’s Cannabis Control Board to develop detailed plans for the packaging and labeling of cannabis products. recently legalized recreational facilities and would require the Office of Cannabis Management and Empire State Development to create a sustainable cannabis packaging incubator program to provide financial incentives to cannabis farmers and entrepreneurs to produce and use materials based on cannabis. hemp.
“Many cannabis containers use a process with disposable plastic and individual portions, so they have a lot of waste,” Hinchey said. “We have to find ways to stop filling our landfills. As we create a whole new industry in the north of the state, one that generates a lot of waste, we should have a circular economy by making sure that cannabis products are packaged with biodegradable hemp to make sure they create much less waste. as we begin this new industry. “
Bill S7508 is on the Senate Rules Committee. The new proposed legislation will be one of several cannabis-related measures to be discussed at the next 2022 legislative session, which will begin on Wednesday.
Unlike other crops, hemp can grow in most climates and most farmland, requiring less water and no pesticides or herbicides, according to the senator’s office.
Hemp-derived compounds are 3.5 times stronger than conventional plastics and can replace a multitude of plastic items, such as water bottles, packaging, building materials, and auto parts, and are biodegradable and take between three and six months to decompose. Petroleum-derived plastics take more than 400 years to decompose.
“Hemp is a product that varies incredibly in its uses,” Hinchey said. “It’s incredibly diverse. Everything that’s created with plastic can be replaced with hemp. What’s exciting is that no one in the world is really doing that.”
“If we can drive the market here in New York, we would be leaders in this new manufacturing industry, which is a victory for our economy and above all a victory for the north of the state for our farmers and the environment,” he said. add.
The new measure would boost New York’s industrialized hemp industry and help the state be one of the first in the country to prioritize environmental sustainability over recreational cannabis products.
“The Cannabis Management Office and the Cannabis Control Board are reviewing a wide range of issues as we develop regulations with strong stakeholder engagement and feedback opportunities that will give life to this new industry. in a safe and sustainable way that protects public health and public health. the environment, “a spokesman for the Office of Cannabis Management said in a statement.
Agency representatives would not answer specific questions about what methods board members are considering to regulate recreational marijuana waste or when the agency would publicly address the issue. The office does not govern the industrial hemp of the state.
Representatives would not comment on the proposed incentives for cannabis farmers or sellers to offset the use of plastics.
The incentive to focus on the use and production of biodegradable hemp-based packaging for cannabis products would provide business opportunities for smallholder farmers, stimulating economic development in rural and northern communities. .
Melany Dobson is the co-chair of the Sustainability Committee of the New York Cannabis Growers and Processors Association.
She is also the product manager and co-founder of Hudson Hemp, a 2,400-acre organic-regenerative hemp farm based in Hudson. The Columbia County hemp processor is partnered with several hemp farmers in the counties of Columbia, Dutchess and Ulster and is the parent company of Treaty CBD.
The CBD oil company uses a herd of biodegradable hemp from biotechnology company Ecovative Design, based in Rensselaer County, for all its packaging, including its compostable post-consumer waste boxes.
“One of our mottos is, ‘Sustainability is good, regeneration is forever,'” Dobson said. “Right now, given the climate and our environment, it’s important that we go beyond sustainability to revolutionize our industrial systems through regenerative agricultural practices “.
Ecovative hemp packaging uses the hemp flock, or the woody inner core of the stock hemp plant and mycelial fungi to fit any package or shaped product.
The bill will help create more resources for biodegradable alternatives to plastic and help other emerging hemp growers and cannabis companies locate the industry and develop New York-based packaging supply chains.
Innovative thinking for the emerging industry is consolidating: the New York Cannabis Producers and Processors Association is committed to building sustainability within the state’s cannabis policy and infrastructure, Dobson said. .
“Our goals are to set standards that prioritize sustainable practices,” he said. “This is a great opportunity for coalitions and associations to democratize this process and propose regulations, policies and ways of educating and educating consumers, so it is valuable to make these supply chains sustainable and packaging is sustainable “.
Dobson said he supported the proposed bill, adding that it will open the door to hemp to help the medical, food, fuel and packaging industries.
“The beauty of what this legislation proposes is that it creates a closed circuit system in this industry,” he said. “What other agricultural product can we say this about? Especially at the state level. “
The State Association of Cannabis Growers and Processors meets three times a week and is in regular communication with state officials from the Office of Cannabis Management and the Cannabis Control Board, legislators and other leaders to measure how to propose effectively measures to ensure that sustainable practices are part of the industry’s regulations and legal framework.
Jen Metzger, a member of the cannabis control board, a former Rosendale senator, recently visited Eaton Hemp in Madison County, which sells organic hemp seeds, snacks and hemp fiber pet care products.
“They were very interested in seeing what we were doing,” said Daniel Dolgin, executive director and co-founder of Eaton Hemp. Dolgin also chairs the association’s Industrial Hemp Committee.
“The CMO is very interested in the adult use program taking into account sustainability and climate change, being carbon neutral and all that good stuff,” he said. “At every meeting of the CMO board, the issue of sustainability has been at the center.”
Dolgin is excited about the legislative proposal to boost the use and production of hemp in the state.
“The state has to tip the scales, and right now, it’s a supply and demand issue,” Dolgin said. “We really need to demand that people put seeds in the ground to grow to get grain and fiber. A farmer will not give up valuable farmland when he knows it is something they can be paid for.”
Dobson agreed that talks on sustainable cannabis practices continue to be at the forefront for all parties involved.
“We are moving fast; we take this time period very seriously because there is an unknown, but there is also an urgency,” he said. “There is a real understanding that environmental and social justice are intrinsically connected and to create a fair and just industry, we need to address these challenges with an openness that has not been represented in other states.”
It is unclear when recreational cannabis sales will increase and the need for environmentally friendly packaging as the new Cannabis Management Office and the board work to develop rules and regulations.
New York became the 15th state to legalize recreational cannabis after the Marijuana Regulation and Tax Act was signed on March 31st.
Proponents of her case have been working to make the actual transcript of this statement available online.
Dobson is encouraged by the conversation in New York that the same mistakes will not be repeated.
The Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act of 2019, which imposes a 40% reduction in statewide greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and an 85% reduction in emissions by 2050, states a framework for regulating incentives to make the state cannabis industry part of the climate solution. dit.
“I have not seen these talks successfully conducted in other states,” Dobson added. “There’s a real appreciation and sophistication about how we’re discussing these things and how they relate to sustainability. Adopting those efforts isn’t really a high goal; it’s kind of necessary for this act, and that’s amazing.”
Hinchey has discussed the measure with several senators who support the idea. The bill continues to generate bipartisan support before the session begins, he said.
“It’s one of those things that seems obvious,” the senator said. “We have the opportunity to grow this agricultural product, but there are no specific plans. We know that our solid waste is a problem, so if we can, it would be a solution not to create more in the immediate future. This is a great victory for the environment, the economic side and everywhere for our state. “
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