Tag: New York

When New York regulators announced plans to double recreational marijuana retail licenses to 300 for social equity applicants, local cannabis operators and other industry advocates applauded the news. But behind the scenes, concerns were mounting over the challenge of finding affordable cannabis real estate across large parts of the state because of zoning and commercial restrictions. About half of New York’s 1,520 municipalities have opted out of adult-use retail, according to the Rockefeller Institute of Government, a public policy think tank based in Albany.… Read more.

A group that includes some of New York’s medical cannabis companies is suing the state over its plan to issue adult-use retail cannabis licenses to social equity applicants before opening applications to all businesses, Syracuse.com reports. The complaint alleges unconstitutional overreach and policymaking, egregious abdication of duties, and actions that put citizens’ health and safety at risk.  The lawsuit was filed by the Coalition for Access to Regulated & Safe Cannabis which describes itself as “an unincorporated trade association.” The group includes Acreage… Read more.

Illicit operators in New York are expected to capture $7.2 billion in untaxed revenue by 2030, according to a new report prepared by MPG Consulting for Acreage Holdings. In the New York Illicit Cannabis Market Absorption Analysis, MPG’s consultants outline the potential loss of 20,600 industry jobs and more than $2.6 billion in tax revenue over the next eight years if state regulators are unable to adequately address illicit market absorption. As the fourth-largest state by population with approximately 15 million adult residents,… Read more.

Multistate operators with New York medical cannabis licenses sued regulators on Thursday in an attempt to gain quick entry into the state’s adult-use marijuana market. The MSOs are currently shut out from New York’s legal recreational market. In a lawsuit filed in state Supreme Court in Albany, the Coalition for Access to Regulated and Safe Cannabis (CARSC) alleges that the Office of Cannabis Management and the Cannabis Control Board violated New York’s 2021 legalization law – the Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act… Read more.

In assistant professor Monty Vacura’s course, students grow, harvest, dry, cure and even sell cannabis plants. This may sound like textbook drug dealing, but it’s actually a three-credit course in SUNY Orange’s biology department. “The class is a balance between workforce development and then the academic education side,” Vacura said. “I mean, basically, it feels like I’ve built a business.” SUNY Orange, in Middletown, launched the Horticultural Cannabis class last year. Students must take general horticulture as a prerequisite, but the… Read more.

NY Cannabis Insider bought the eight highest-potency strains of legal recreational cannabis available in New York State on Feb. 24, drove them straight to a state-certified laboratory, placed them in anonymized Ziploc bags and submitted them for potency testing. What came back has kicked open a hornet’s nest within the NY cannabis ecosystem and led to a regulatory policy change within the past 24 hours that affects every cannabis grower, processor and consumer in the state. That’s because our lab results, which… Read more.

New York is doubling the number of adult-use cannabis dispensary licenses in the state from 150 to 300, according to a Spectrum News report. The state Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) has so far received about 900 dispensary licenses and has issued 66 provisional licenses.  The expansion comes amidst a lawsuit by a Michigan-based cannabis company that has delayed the awarding of licenses in Brooklyn, Central New York, the Finger Lakes, the Mid-Hudson Area, and Western New York.   In a statement, Tremaine Wright, chair… Read more.

ALBANY, N.Y. (WENY) - New York State will be doubling the amount of available conditional adult-use retail cannabis dispensaries. The state said they originally planned to issue 150 licenses, but will now increase that figure to 300. The program's expansion will further advance New York State's Seeding Opportunity Initiative. The initiative gives those that were previously in jail for cannabis an opportunity to run a dispensary. In the southern tier, the number licenses will go to six, up from three. There… Read more.