NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — The Cannabis Control Board approved 30 new cannabis dispensary licenses on Wednesday, according to the Office of Cannabis Management.
The board’s decision represents the second wave of dispensary approvals. The first batch was approved in mid-November and the first legal sale was made in New York City at the end of December.
“The Cannabis Control Board is thrilled to provisionally approve a new slate of CAURD licenses that will help continue to position New York as the most inclusive cannabis industry in the country and usher in a new era of economic opportunity,” said CCB Chair Tremaine Wright. “We’re ensuring those most impacted by the unjust enforcement of cannabis prohibition are paving the way for a new industry filled with potential and economic opportunity.”
So far, all of the Conditional Adult-Use Retail Dispensary (CUARD) licenses have been distributed to people with prohibition-era cannabis convictions, their family members or non-profits that support formerly incarcerated people.
The equity plan, dubbed the Seeding Opportunity Initiative, aims to redress the harm done to communities that were disproportionately targeted by the war on drugs.
The NYCLU estimated that between 1976 and 2006, a period of time that roughly matches New York’s strictest cannabis laws, Black people were arrested for cannabis at nearly eight times the rate of white people in New York despite using about the same amount of the drug. Latino people were arrested at twice the rate of white people.
The OCM estimated Black people were 15 times and Latino people eight times more likely to be arrested for cannabis than white people in New York over the course of the last 30 years — meaning the disparity widened even as prohibition laws slackened.
The agency says the majority of licenses have been awarded to people of color so far.
The new licenses were chosen from over 900 applications. Thirty will go to people with former cannabis convictions or their family members and two will go to non-profits, bringing the total number of licenses across the state to 66.
With the new batch of approvals, there will now be at least one dispensary in every region across the state. The 14 regions were determined by the OCM to ensure equal access to legal cannabis sales.
The CCB also approved a processor license and five lab testing permits on Wednesday. The board will continue to consider applications on a rolling basis.
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