New York Cannabis Retailers Push Back on $30m Product Recall and ‘Rent-a-Licence’ Scandal
October 28, 2025
Oregon-based edibles company Grön has weighed in on the ongoing controversy surrounding New York’s so-called ‘rent-a-licence’ scandal.
The dispute follows enforcement action announced by the Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) on 20 October 2025, when the agency filed multiple charges against Long Island manufacturer Omnium Health Inc., operating as Omnium Canna.
Allegedly, Omnium had been allowing unlicensed operators to use its licensed processing and distribution facilities, in what regulators claimed amounted to a ‘reverse licensing’ or ‘rent-a-licence’ scheme that enabled out-of-state brands to make and sell cannabis products in New York without the required authorisation.
The OCM’s Notice of Pleading has saught to revoke Omnium’s licences, debar it from future licencing, and impose civil penalties tied to any unregulated products sold. The agency also ordered a statewide recall of Omnium-linked products, estimated at more than US $30 million in retail value.
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Felicia A. B. Reid, the OCM’s acting executive director, said in the same statement that Omnium’s conduct was ‘a blatant breach of the licensing rules designed to ensure transparency and fairness in the legal market.’
Grön has now accused New York regulators of ‘inaccurate’ and ‘misleading’ claims linking it to the alleged licence-renting scheme.
The company said it had disclosed its partnership with Omnium to state regulators more than a year ago and that the relationship was both short-lived and fully compliant with OCM rules.
In a statement quoted by The New York Times, Grön said that any assertion by the OCM that it ‘had no knowledge of Grön’s permissible licensing arrangement with Omnium is demonstrably false’ and that ‘any assertion by O.C.M. to the contrary is entirely inaccurate.’
The company added that none of its products were affected by the OCM’s recent recall and that its reputation had been ‘unfairly tarnished’ by association.
Despite the scale of the action, the OCM has yet to provide formal public guidance on how the recall will proceed.
An official notice has yet to be issued, leaving retailers and brands uncertain about which products are affected. Industry stakeholders warn that the delay risks undermining confidence in the state’s legal cannabis market.
The recall highlights longstanding gaps in New York’s regulatory infrastructure. Nearly three years after legal sales began, the state has yet to implement a track-and-trace system capable of following products from cultivation to sale.
The OCM plans to integrate Metrc’s seed-to-sale software by December, but for now regulators must rely on companies’ internal records, complicating the recall process.
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