Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - Another injunction has halted New York State's Cannabis Control Board from approving additional conditional adult-use recreational dispensary (CAURD) licenses.
A New York Supreme Court judge placed the injunction on Monday after hearing from a veteran group who argue that the state's cannabis rollout violates the Marihuana Regulation and Taxation Act.
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"Unless you have a brick and mortar [cannabis dispensary], you're being halted right now," says cannabis law attorney Aleece Burgio. "The big issue in this case is that the plaintiffs stated that they are violating the Marihuana Regulation Taxation Act, because it didn't open licensing and application windows at the same time. So by opening up the card retail dispensary license window first, they're technically violating the Marihuana Regulation and Taxation act."
There have been injunctions halting the CAURD approval process for certain districts, but Burgio says attorneys are surprised they judge issued the restraining order that halts the actions of state cannabis offices.
"As attorneys, we're getting a little nervous, because it seems like the court is finding that there is some merit, that there could be problems with the rollout of the conditional retail dispensaries."
So far to date, the Cannabis Control Board has issued 463 CAURD licenses, the plan being to authorize 500 licenses as part of the initial rollout of approving licenses to those who were once incarcerated for marijuana-related charges, or to their families.
A court will be hearing arguments on Friday in Kingston.
"I think collectively, everybody just wants to see a successful rollout here and the more stops that we see with the lawsuits, the further we get from that goal," Burgio adds.