New York Marijuana Officials Are Now Accepting Applications For The First Recreational Dispensary Licenses

People who’ve been directly impacted by the drug war in New York are now able to submit applications for the first round of retailer licenses in the state.New York regulators have been promoting the launch of the application portal for weeks, emphasizing that this represents a key step toward ensuring industry equity as the state prepares to open its adult-use market by the year’s end.Earlier this week, the Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) unveiled a regional breakdown of the maximum 150 conditional adult-use retail dispensary (CAURD) licenses that it plans to accept as an initial step to setting New York up to serve adult-use consumers.

People who’ve been directly impacted by the drug war in New York are now able to submit applications for the first round of retailer licenses in the state.New York regulators have been promoting the launch of the application portal for weeks, emphasizing that this represents a key step toward ensuring industry equity as the state prepares to open its adult-use market by the year’s end.Earlier this week, the Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) unveiled a regional breakdown of the maximum 150 conditional adult-use retail dispensary (CAURD) licenses that it plans to accept as an initial step to setting New York up to serve adult-use consumers.That announcement came weeks after the state Cannabis Control Board (CCB) said it would start accepting retailer applications from justice-involved individuals who have been historically impacted by marijuana criminalization.“It’s important to remember that this is just the beginning,” OCM Executive Director Chris Alexander said on Thursday. “Our team here at OCM will keep launching programs to make sure New York’s industry is equitable, diverse, and accessible to all New Yorkers.”“I’ve said it time and time again, and I want to say it here again today: Equity is not a thing. It is the thing,” he said.The CARD application portal launched on Thursday and will be open until September 26.Applications for conditional retailer licenses must still be reviewed on a regional basis, so the numbers from OCM don’t necessarily reflect the number of storefronts that will be opened under the program. It just shows the maximum that will be accepted per region.To qualify for the special retail license, applicants must have faced a conviction for a cannabis-related offense before the enactment of legalization in the state, or have a direct relative with such a conviction, and they must also have experience operating a qualifying business.Regulators have also expanded the definition of a qualifying “justice-involved” individual to include people who were arrested for marijuana but convicted for a lesser offense, which advocates view as a positive step that will broader the applicant pool.People who receive Conditional Adult-Use Retail Dispensaries (CAURD) licenses will be able to access a $200 million Social Equity Cannabis Fund and also be eligible for turnkey storefronts that are now being secured and built out by the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York.

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