New York’s Cannabis Control Board continues to move forward on licensing with several settled lawsuits in its wake. The board approved about 100 more licenses during its April 11 meeting, while also voting to delegate the authority of issuing provisional licenses to the Office of Cannabis Management without the need for a formal meeting.
The board approved 91 annual licenses and 10 provisional retail licenses. Of the annual licenses, there were 25 cultivation, 25 retail, 11 distribution, eight processing and 22 for microbusinesses, of which 14 are not permitted for retail.
Currently, 98 retail dispensaries have active business licenses in the state, according to the CRB Monitor database.
That brings the total number of annual adult-use licenses to 314, which does not include the hundred of conditional retail or cultivation licenses that are still waiting to convert to a provisional or annual license. Conditional licenses were the first set of licenses available, and they were restricted to applicants who met certain conditions.
Provisional licenses are intended to give tacit approval to applicants that may still need to finalize a location for their facility, be it retail, processing or cultivating. The CCB would still have to give final approval to convert to them annual licenses before they could officially open for business.
“We are inching towards the 100th adult-use cannabis brick and mortar retail location in New York,” said CCB Chair Tremaine Wright during the board’s April 11 meeting. “This is an incredible milestone for New York State. Our licensees have borne the burden of setbacks, stoppage, postponements and delays. Nevertheless, they are steadfast, and they continue to rise above.”
OCM Executive Director Chris Alexander said that he hopes the agency’s pace for approvals can pick up now that they do not need to wait to approve provisional licenses.
“We’re continuing the work of sifting through the applications that have been submitted. And we’re continuing to work with those applicants to make sure that we’re curing deficiencies in a more expedited process,” said Alexander. “We can move a little more quickly through reviewing of applications and issuing of provisional licenses, so that folks can go out, identify locations and move a little quicker and not have to wait, for a board meeting for that opportunity to begin.”
Unconverted CAURD licenses expiring soon
New York originally attempted to roll out the retail side of the adult-use market by issuing Conditional Adult-Use Retail Dispensary (CAURD) licenses. Those licenses were reserved for individuals with a prior cannabis-related arrest record in the state.
Meanwhile, OCM approved Adult-Use Conditional Cultivation licenses to the state’s existing hemp farmers. Those cultivation licenses were never challenged in court, so they were free to start their crops. But with OCM’s stumbles in issuing retail licenses, cultivators struggled to sell their harvests.
Alexander noted that the court-ordered stay on issuing CAURD licenses was lifted on April 1, meaning the board is now free to consider those retail licenses.
“I do want to be clear that not all of the individuals who may have applied for a CAURD are going to get a license,” said Alexander. “A good amount of those who are left were not eligible; did not meet the requirements either by not submitting the proper documentation of business ownership and operation or of the previous cannabis conviction.”
He also reminded applicants the conditional license program was set to expire in June, meaning time is running out for them to convert, and they’ll have to start the application process all over.
“May 3 is the date that we hope you’re able to submit everything so we can process your transition,” said Alexander.
