When New York’s Cannabis Control Board issues the next round of licenses to open legal marijuana shops in the state, it’s going to be luck of the draw.
The state Cannabis Control Board met Friday in Albany for the first time since the long-awaited resolution of two lawsuits that brought New York’s marijuana industry to a standstill since August.
“I think between now and the end of the year, we’re going to see a lot more doors opening,” Cannabis Control Board chair Tremaine Wright told Capital Tonight after Friday’s meeting.
The nearly four-month hiatus prevented hundreds of people issued licenses under the state’s Conditional Adult-Use Retail Dispensary program — which focused on issuing licenses to people with past marijuana convictions — from opening up shop.
A week after the court order was lifted, board members have turned their attention to a new priority: Approving retail licenses for aspiring entrepreneurs who have already secured store space.
“We’re ready to go, we just need the state to reveiw the licenses,” said Paul Suits, one of roughly 1,500 people has space for a cannabis dispensary prepped for business, and applied within OCM’s priority window to issue the state’s first general adult-use retail licenses.
Suits and his brother co-own Lakehouse Cannabis