n a blow to New York’s already fragile legal cannabis market, the long-promised “seed-to-sale” tracking system has hit a major delay—potentially pushing its rollout back six months to a full year. For cultivators, processors, and dispensaries who have built their operations around regulatory compliance, this isn’t just an inconvenience—it’s a crisis.
At the center of the delay is BioTrack, the software vendor contracted to build and manage the system. Following a recent corporate merger, BioTrack’s onboarding and integration process has slowed to a crawl, leaving New York without the digital infrastructure it needs to track cannabis from cultivation to consumer. Seed-to-sale tracking systems are standard in regulated markets. They ensure: every cannabis plant and product is accounted for at each stage, data is shared across licensees and regulators to prevent diversion to the illicit market, consumers are protected with verified product information and recall capability
Without it, regulators have limited ability to enforce compliance—or even know what’s really happening inside the market.
The delay couldn’t come at a worse time. New York’s legal cannabis program is still gaining its footing after a rocky launch marred by licensing backlogs, lawsuits, and a thriving gray market. According to some industry estimates, 20% to 50% of cannabis sold in New York is unlicensed, and much of it is coming from out-of-state sources. Without proper tracking in place, it becomes significantly harder to distinguish legal cannabis from illicit products—particularly for retailers trying to stay compliant while also competing on price and availability. The Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) has acknowledged the issue but has offered limited public guidance on what temporary compliance measures will look like. Some operators are implementing manual tracking systems in the meantime, but without standardization, this patchwork approach increases confusion and risk across the board.
The state will likely need to issue temporary regulations or formalize a transitional reporting protocol to maintain any semblance of oversight until the full BioTrack system is live.
New York’s cannabis industry is already struggling to build trust with consumers, investors, and communities. The seed-to-sale system delay—while understandable given the circumstances—adds yet another layer of uncertainty to a rollout already defined by unpredictability. If the state is serious about creating a safe, equitable, and competitive cannabis market, it must act quickly to implement interim solutions, increase transparency, and hold BioTrack accountable to realistic—but firm—deadlines.
Because without a working tracking system, New York’s cannabis market risks going dark—just when it was finally starting to see the light.