New York State (WBEN) - The New York State Cannabis Control Board approved 99 marijuana conditional adult-use recreational dispensary (CAURD) licenses during their meeting Monday morning.
Four of these 99 licenses have been approved in the Western New York region with more licensing approvals on the way as part of this initial rollout, the Office of Cannabis Management's control board is expected to approve up to 300 licenses total, 22 total allocated for Western New York.
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Tremaine Wright, chairwoman of the Cannabis Control Board reminds us that this comes following a recent lift of an injunction.
"An injunction was issued that prevented the control board from issuing CAURD licenses in five regions, Brooklyn, Mid Hudson, Central New York, the Finger Lakes and Western New York. Well, last week, that injunction was lifted for four of those regions (Finger Lakes excluded)
That means that we can now begin issuing dispensary licenses for the other four regions. Today, we're excited to have a few of those in front of us for consideration. We're absolutely thrilled that we're able to expand the rollout of legalized cannabis across almost every region of the state, and that New Yorkers in these regions will soon have access to locally grown and tested safe cannabis."
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The CAURD license is a central pillar of the Seeding Opportunity Initiative. Through the Initiative, New York’s first legal adult-use retail dispensaries will be operated by those most impacted by the enforcement of the prohibition of cannabis or nonprofit organizations whose services include support for the formerly incarcerated.
"We are thrilled to announce the addition of 99 more CAURD provisional licenses as we continue to work swiftly and equitably to establish New York's cannabis industry," said Chris Alexander, Executive Director of the Office of Cannabis Management. "The approval of these licenses will help expedite building a robust and diverse supply chain while also ensuring that individuals that have been disproportionately impacted by cannabis prohibition have meaningful opportunities to participate in the industry.”
The board also approved an extra cannabis testing lab in Rochester, Certainty Analytical Labs, bringing the total testing laboratories operating in New York State to 13.
"Testing cannabis products is critical to making safer products available across New York State's regulated market," said Wright.
