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August 29, 2019 2025-01-21 1:18Homepage

about us
Dedicated to the growth of New York Cannabis.
Founded in 2024, the Empire Cannabis Manufacturers Alliance (ECMA) was created by eight of New York’s licensed manufacturers representing varying operational sizes, product specialties, and regions of the state.
We advocate for policies that prioritize establishing product quality
standards, building a robust and diverse marketplace of brands, and developing a supply chain that brings economic development across New York.
Our advocacy efforts rest on the following core tenets guiding our organization’s work:
1. Ensuring a Fair Playing Field: The Cannabis Law’s progressive and nation-leading framework to foster a competitive, diverse, and fair marketplace can become the foundation for the federal legalization system. To accomplish this, New York’s framework needs to be supported and protected through regulation, administrative priorities, and innovative policymaking to prevent uncompetitive market behavior witnessed not just in other cannabis markets but throughout the broader economy. We promote policies that promote fair trade practices, enforcement of ownership rules, and the ability of independent operators to compete throughout the supply chain.
2. Common-Sense Regulation: We advocate for a common-sense approach to regulation that protects consumers while ensuring that the regulatory apparatus is not overly prohibitive for small businesses. The regulated cannabis industry is nascent and constantly innovating, necessitating a regulatory framework that adapts to new technologies and methodologies in cannabis cultivation, dispensing, and manufacturing.
ECMA strives to be a source of knowledge and expertise for policymakers as they navigate regulations involving farming, analytical testing, research, quality control, trade practices, social justice, and consumer health. While ECMA is composed of manufacturers and processors, our entire Alliance understands that the success of our businesses depends on the success of our cultivation and retail partners. As such, ECMA is committed to advancing policies that serve the entire industry instead of those that exclusively serve processor and manufacturer license holders.
3. Enforcement: We advocate for enforcement of the rules necessary to keep the market competitive, protect consumer safety, and ensure that all actors are clear about what is and is not allowed. While ECMA strongly believes that New York State should not revert to practices that continue to criminalize cannabis, we firmly believe that unlicensed businesses operating outside of the regulated framework must be held accountable through strict civil enforcement.
4. Promotion & Protection of Diversity: We advocate for a marketplace that is diverse in every sense by promoting and protecting diversity initiatives and upholding the spirit of the MRTA. We believe that the diversity in ideas, culture, and experience is New York’s greatest strength in fostering the innovation necessary to compete in a global cannabis economy.
NEW YORK'S FINEST
Who we represent
Our New York-based members process, manufacture, and distribute the majority of products on New York's shelves.