Staffers at New York's Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) raised concerns about inflated costs and default risks for startup retailers, but their warnings were largely ignored by top officials. Emails obtained by Rosalind Z. Adams reveal that OCM officials were frustrated with the terms of the state’s private equity financing program, describing it as 'BAD.' The program, which observers have labeled predatory lending, was pushed forward despite these warnings. Governor Hochul's office, which had been informed of these issues, called the cannabis rollout a 'disaster' in January, stunning OCM officials.
Emails show that New York cannabis regulators repeatedly raised concerns with the governor's office about the loan program for marijuana businesses that observers have said amounts to predatory lending under a sweetheart deal for a private equity firm. https://t.co/wv1U94Gsos
From @RosalindZAdams, a real time view of failure of New York's legal cannabis rollout, through the the eyes - and the emails - of the officials who warned that eye-watering finance costs, and a focus on glossy flagship stores would doom the process https://t.co/oxMccouYGE
Emails @RosalindZAdams obtained show @nys_cannabis staff blowing their stacks about the terms of New York’s doomed private equity financing program for retail startups, as in: “This is BAD.” https://t.co/M5fBzablT0
“When Hochul called the cannabis rollout a ‘disaster’ this January, OCM officials were privately stunned, since their repeated warnings had often gone unheeded by the governor’s office.” https://t.co/9WQya8BHQ2
Staffers at the state's Office of Cannabis Management red-flagged inflated costs and default risks for startup retailers — but were largely ignored by top officials under pressure to get financing flowing. https://t.co/DjhIUw6qE0