A lawsuit against NY cannabis regulators that had stalled the opening of new legal weed dispensaries has been resolved, opening the door to the resumption of the long-delayed rollout.
A group of service-disabled veterans who sued the state over licensing for legal pot shops has “reached an agreement in principle” to settle the lawsuit, a lawyer for the plaintiffs wrote to a state appeals court Monday.
The lawsuit was filed by four service-disabled veterans who charged that the state program to prioritize social justice goals by first giving out licenses to people impacted by the War on Drugs and their families was illegal.
The settlement has yet to be finalized, but the news of a tentative agreement sparked chatter in group chats among prospective dispensary owners. The letter offer hope for cannabis entrepreneurs who’ve suffered financial loss and mental stress during the three-month-long injunction.
The lawsuit, filed in August, alleges the state’s Cannabis Control Board overstepped its authority and violated its own cannabis law by opening the retail license application first to those with marijuana-related offenses and their families — instead of opening applications to the general public.
An injunction was imposed in August, which prevented any new retail licenses from