New York officials announced March 2 that they will double the number of adult-use dispensary licenses issued during the state’s first licensing round.
Gov. Kathy Hochul announced a Seeding Opportunity Initiative last year aimed at prioritizing those most impacted by the war on drugs in the adult-use cannabis licensing process. Part of the plan included issuing the first batch of Conditional Adult-Use Retail Dispensary (CAURD) licenses to those with past cannabis-related convictions.
New York’s Cannabis Control Board (CCB) received more than 900 applications for the licenses, and initially planned to issue up to 175 total CAURD licenses to as many as 150 individuals and 25 nonprofit organizations. So far, officials have awarded 66 CAURD licenses to 56 qualifying individuals and 10 nonprofits.
There are currently four operational adult-use dispensaries in New York. Housing Works Cannabis Co. was the first to launch sales in December.
Chris Alexander, executive director of the New York State Office of Cannabis Management (OCM), told the CCB March 2 that officials now plan to increase the number of adult-use cannabis retail licenses in the first licensing round to 300, the Associated Press reported.
However, a federal lawsuit has frozen adult-use licenses in five regions of the state, barring many licensees from opening their doors. A judge issued a ruling on the case in November that impacts roughly 40% of the proposed retail licenses, AP reported, and the state is currently appealing the decision.
RELATED: New York’s Cannabis Licenses Latest Target of Commerce Clause
The case stems from Variscite NY One’s September 2022 complaint that the OCM violated the dormant Commerce Clause by enacting what it calls an “unconstitutional” licensing process.
Nonetheless, regulators said increasing the number of available licenses will ultimately bring more businesses into the state’s nascent industry.
“With this expansion, more entrepreneurs will be able to participate in the first wave of this industry,” Tremaine Wright, chair of the CCB, said after Thursday’s meeting, according to AP.
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