Marijuana Moment
New York regulators have approved draft rules to allow for the home cultivation of recreational marijuana, and have signed off on more than 100 new cannabis business licenses that they hope will help the legal market overcome its “rocky start” this year.
Amid sharp criticism from the governor and state lawmakers over the protracted licensing process, the Cannabis Control Board (CCB) on Friday voted in favor of several resolutions to expand marijuana operations and lay out proposed home grow rules for adult consumers.
Regulators approved over 100 licenses for retailers, microbusinesses, cultivators, processors and distributors. Two cannabis research licenses were also granted under a separate resolution.
What makes this latest batch of licensing approvals unique is that they are the first non-conditional licenses, meaning applicants did not need to meet certain eligibility criteria under the state’s Conditional Adult-Use Retail Dispensaries (CAURD) program that prioritized justice-involved people.
“This moment has been a long time in the making,” Tremaine Wright, chair of CCB, said at Friday’s meeting. “We assure you it only represents the beginning. The office has been diligently working to prepare as many applications as possible for consideration, and the board will continue to approve additional licenses at future board meetings.”
However, Wright also recognized that “it has been a rocky start to 2024 for cannabis in New York State,” so regulators aimed to “tackle a number of the matters that we hope will help propel our industry forward.”
