New York state announced the first retail recipients of marijuana licenses last week, the latest step in an arduous process steeped in legal red tape and one that moves the Empire State closer to capitalizing on the economic potential that other states have reaped from recreational pot sales in recent years.
The state board revealed the first 36 retail licensees. Out of 900 applicants, 28 of the first licenses were awarded to individual businesses and people with past marijuana convictions, while eight were given to nonprofits. In this initial round, up to 150 licenses are expected to be made available to individual businesses while another 25 licenses at least will be reserved for nonprofits, officials have said.
About a dozen of the 36 licenses announced Monday go to businesses within the five boroughs. The regulations then advance to a 60-day public comment period.
The state Office of Cannabis Management says it reviewed 900 applicants in whittling down its annual approval list to the 36 unveiled Monday at its Harlem offices on 125th Street. Applicants in the initial round had to demonstrate “a significant presence in New York state."
Once a business or nonprofit gets a license, it still has a round of paperwork to complete. But the first New York recreational pot dispensaries should be up and running (and allowed to deliver) by December, and that's not even two weeks away. And Monday's announcement is just the first wave.
Going forward, license applications will be sent to the board for its consideration on a rolling basis.
It's not clear how many total licenses will ultimately be awarded statewide or in New York City, where some in Brooklyn are waiting with bated breath after a federal judge temporarily blocked the state from issuing recreational pot licenses there and in upstairs areas amid ongoing legal challenges to the selection process.
The judge's order temporarily bars the state from issuing retail licenses for the five regions of the state Variscite selected in its business application: Brooklyn, central New York, the Finger Lakes, the mid-Hudson region and western New York. It does not cover nine other regions of the state, including the rest of the city.
The ruling affects up to 63 of the 150 possible business licenses.
New York still plans to begin adult marijuana sales by the end of the year, starting with shop owners with past pot convictions or their relatives. State lawmakers designed the legal market to make sure the first retailers were people directly affected by drug law enforcement. The board said Monday the initial approvals did include "justice-involved individuals," businesses affected by prior cannabis convictions, and nonprofits that serve the recently incarcerated.
Besides aspiring sellers, hundreds of hemp farmers who recently cultivated New York's first legal marijuana crop want clarity on when dispensaries will open to market their harvest.
“They don’t really have a lot of options but to wait and hope that they don’t end up having to suffer any losses," said Dan Livingston of the Cannabis Association of New York, a trade group.
Whatever the wrinkles, New York's approach to legalization has gotten some kudos for innovating and emphasizing equity, and applicant advocate and cannabis lawyer Scheril Murray Powell counsels patience. As chief operating officer of the Justus Foundation, she works to help longtime sellers go legal.
Meanwhile, there is new pressure on those businesses that have been selling pot without a license, seemingly without impunity, for months.
“We’ve put out requests to cease and desist. Particularly the storefront and the trucks. I’ve been very clear about the frustration that it’s caused," said Chris Alexander, from the NYS Office of Cannabis Management.