It has been another tumultuous week in New York cannabis, but our collective voice is making an impact.
Following urgent advocacy from CANY leadership—including a letter to the OCM and subsequent coverage by Spectrum News regarding the untenable timeline of the seed-to-sale rollout—the State has responded.
The Office of Cannabis Management has officially extended the deadline for Retail Inventory uploads to January 12, 2026.
This is a significant victory. It ensures that dispensaries can maximize the critical holiday sales season without being forced to pause operations next week for massive data entry projects. It proves that when this industry stands together and presents facts, Albany listens.
The Job Is Only Half Done
While retailers have temporary breathing room on inventory, the State has left the rest of the supply chain exposed. The latest OCM update ignores critical operational realities that threaten to destabilize the market as early as January.
We are facing two major threats that require immediate legislative attention:
1. The “Vertical Tax” Ambush
As operators begin hands-on training with the system, a devastating financial reality has emerged for vertically integrated businesses (such as Microbusinesses). Metrc’s structure requires products to be re-tagged multiple times as they move through cultivation, processing, and distribution licenses held by the same entity.
- The Reality: That single “$0.10 tag fee” compounds at every step. For many small operators, compliance costs are skyrocketing from 10 cents to over 40 cents per unit.
- The Impact: This compounding cost was never clearly disclosed during OCM roadshows. It acts as a hidden tax that punishes the very small, independent businesses the Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act (MRTA) was meant to protect.
2. The Supply Chain Cliff
While retailers got an extension, Cultivators, Processors, and Distributors did not. They still face a hard deadline of December 17 to upload all inventory.
This creates a disjointed rollout. If our upstream partners are forced to pause operations next week to struggle through compliance challenges without adequate support, the supply chain will sever. Retailers will be open in January, but they will face empty shelves.
The Root Problem: The Metrc Monopoly
Why are these costs so high? New York appears to be the only state that has included a requirement in its contract forcing operators to purchase tags exclusively from Metrc at a fixed cost of 10 cents each.
This state-mandated monopoly prevents operators from sourcing compatible, approved tags from other vendors at competitive market rates. It is an enormous, unnecessary cost burden hitting every operator across the supply chain.
Take Action: End the Monopoly
We cannot accept a rollout that saves the storefronts but breaks the supply chain with hidden taxes.
CANY has drafted an urgent letter to State Senators and Assembly Members acknowledging the retail win while demanding they finish the job by ending the Metrc tag monopoly and aligning deadlines for the entire industry.
We need every member to send this letter today.
Step 1: Find Your Reps
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Step 2: Send Your Email
Click the button below to open your email app with the letter pre-written.
✉️ Click to start emailButton not working? You can copy and paste the text below:
Subject: URGENT: End METRC Monopoly & Extend Supply Chain Deadline
Dear [REPRESENTATIVE NAME],
I’m writing as a member of the Cannabis Association of New York (CANY) to urge your immediate attention to the State’s effectively granting a monopoly to METRC, the company selected to operate a seed-to-sale tracking system in New York.
To be clear, we fully support the implementation of the seed-to-sale tracking program. However, the Office of Cannabis Management is requiring operators across the supply chain to buy tags only from METRC. The state-mandated cost of each tag is 10 cents; the ultimate cost of which is expected to be too high for many operators and may force them to close, eliminating the jobs they’ve created.
In recent days, the OCM has taken action to provide some relief to retailers by pushing the deadline back to January 12, and we’re thankful for your support. Unfortunately, they did not move back the deadline for other operators in the supply chain and there has been no movement regarding the requirement to purchase tags from METRC.
The reality is the tracking tags can be created at a far lower cost than the 10 cents OCM is requiring us to pay. The only winner in this situation is METRC, which will gain millions of dollars annually while harming the New York-based businesses that make up the backbone of this industry.
This is particularly true for vertically integrated micro businesses who have to cover the cost of tags at multiple points in the growing, processing, and retail cycle. Questions also remain around how certain products, like variety packs, will be handled, leaving operators unsure how to comply.
For these reasons, I respectfully ask that you urge the Hochul Administration and the OCM to end the METRC monopoly and allow operators to get tags from other sources at a far lower cost. As part of this, the state must also push back the METRC deadline for all operators along the supply chain to allow for an orderly, fair rollout.
Thank you for your attention to this urgent issue and for your continued support of New York’s independent cannabis operators.
Sincerely,
[YOUR NAME]
[BUSINESS NAME]
[TOWN/ZIP CODE]
Let’s close the gap and ensure no operator is left behind.