The state Office of Cannabis Management will start to monitor how efficiently New York farmers grow cannabis in the coming months to ensure indoor and outdoor grows align with the state’s broad green energy mandates.
Members of the state Cannabis Advisory Board on Tuesday detailed plans to grow New York’s recreational marijuana industry as sustainably as possible as OCM undergoes significant changes.
The department will launch a free online tool in the first week of September for cultivators to track electricity and water use, waste and more. Licensed cultivators must submit an annual report and sustainability plan to OCM by Aug. 31, 2025.
“You can’t improve what you don’t measure and you can’t track what you don’t measure,” OCM Director of Policy John Kagia said during Tuesday’s regular Cannabis Advisory Board meeting.
OCM officials discussed the resource, called PowerScore, at the meeting held in New York City — encouraging growers to prioritize sustainable practices like using LED lights indoors, or reducing water and waste and ultimately save money.
The state has netted more than a half-billion dollars in revenue from legal cannabis sales since they started in December 2022, OCM officials said Tuesday.
Beyond Plastics President Judith Enck said the state must also get ahead of plastic pollution in cannabis products as the market takes off. [Read More @ Spectrum News1]
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