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NY to issue nearly 1,500 new weed business licenses in coming weeks
By
Caroline Lewis
Published Dec 26, 2023
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Photo by TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP via Getty Images
By
Caroline Lewis
Published Dec 26, 2023
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New York cannabis officials will be handing out up to 1,445 new business licenses in the coming weeks, including at least 500 for dispensaries.
Other licenses will go to marijuana growers, processors, wholesalers and microbusinesses after the application window for licenses closed earlier this month.
The additional licenses mark the opening of the state’s legal cannabis industry to anyone looking to get into the game, rather than just the local hemp farmers who were given the first cultivation licenses and the entrepreneurs with past marijuana convictions who were initially prioritized for dispensary licenses, through a system known as the Conditional Adult Use Retail Dispensary program.
It’s an opportunity for entrepreneurs including larger corporate players to enter the recreational market. It’s also a chance for people who previously sold weed underground, but didn’t meet some of the requirements of the conditional use program, to bring their operations above-board.
The state has already given out conditional licenses to more than 200 farmers and more than 400 dispensary owners. But because of bureaucratic red tape and legal setbacks, the legal cannabis industry has gotten off to a slow start — and another lawsuit filed against the state Office of Cannabis Management on Dec. 18 could potentially result in further setbacks. More than a year after Housing Works opened the state’s first licensed dispensary in the East Village, marking the launch of New York’s legal recreational cannabis market, there are still only a few dozen legal dispensaries open statewide — and they can be hard to pick out amid a sea of unlicensed shops.
In this new round, the state is prioritizing businesses that already have leases or own their own spaces, and is planning to award those licenses in January or February, said Aaron Ghitelman, a spokesperson for the state Office of Cannabis Management. Those businesses had to submit their applications earlier and will be the first ones evaluated. Ghitelman said the state doesn’t yet have a count of how many people have applied for licenses in this latest round.
New York’s Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act sets out a goal of awarding at least half of all cannabis licenses to people who qualify as social and economic equity applicants. That category includes people who have lived in communities that were disproportionately impacted by the war on drugs, as well as minority- and women-owned businesses, distressed farmers and service-disabled veterans.
Ellexcion Ojo, who was once a dealer in East New York, is among the applicants. He's aiming to launch a legal business called El Barrio Legacy Group and said this opportunity has been a long time coming.
He initially wanted to apply for a license under the Conditional Adult Use Retail Dispensary program, but lacked the credentials of having a business that was profitable for at least two years.
Ojo said he asked himself at first: “Is this going to be the journey moving forward in this industry, where it's going to be those types of barriers?”
But now, he’s feeling more optimistic.
He is applying for one of 220 available licenses for microbusinesses, companies that grow their own small batches of cannabis and manufacture their own products, which they can sell at their own dispensaries.
With a microbusiness license, Ojo said, he and his partner “can be in control of our brand and be able to grow and control the products that we sell.” He said he hopes to set up a grow operation in Westchester.
Ojo has participated in the state’s Cannabis Compliance Training and Mentorship Program and said he has gone from being “just the retail guy” to understanding every aspect of the industry.
Many so-called legacy operators — those who previously sold cannabis underground — are still skeptical they will be able to succeed in the legal industry, even as some apply for licenses, said Kavita Pawria-Sanchez, CEO of CannaBronx. The group aims to help communities most affected by the war on drugs capitalize on the emerging legal marijuana industry, and helped Ojo with his license application.
“They have the smarts, they have the passion, but don't necessarily believe that it's possible for them to win,” Pawria-Sanchez said. “They feel like this is something for people with capital, something for white folks, even though that's not the way the law is written.”
Many of the farmers and dispensary owners who were supposed to get a head start in the industry have instead faced paralyzing bureaucratic hurdles and legal delays so far, which has sowed mistrust and made the legal industry slow to get off the ground.
Greg Pereira got a license months ago under the Conditional Adult Use Retail Dispensary program, and found his dream dispensary space in Nyack, but said he was hesitant to sign a lease prematurely amid the cannabis industry’s legal struggles. In August, a judge issued an injunction blocking any new dispensaries from opening under the conditional use program. Pereira and others with those licenses were stuck in limbo until the state reached a settlement in the case in late November.
With new people entering the market, Pereira said, he lost the space he was eyeing and is now starting the real estate hunt from scratch.
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Health and Science
Caroline Lewis
Caroline Lewis is on the health care beat for WNYC and Gothamist. She has covered COVID, a nurses' strike, the overdose crisis and New York’s marijuana legalization effort, and spent a year investigating patients' medical bills. She always wants to hear about how everyday New Yorkers experience the health system. Got a tip? Email [email protected].
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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