Cannabis retail licensing in New York has been temporarily halted as ordered by Judge Kevin Bryant.
The New York State Cannabis Control Board (CCB) and New York’s Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) have had a case brought against them by four service-disabled military veterans.
The veterans claim the authority has wrongly prevented them from being granted cannabis retail licenses despite service-disabled military veterans being classed as a subset of eligible social equity candidates.
Under state law, in order to be eligible, the veterans would also have also had to have had a cannabis-related conviction before 31 March, 2021.
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The temporary halt to New York’s Conditional Adult-Use Retail Dispensary (CAURD) scheme has been put in place until the case can be heard in the Supreme Court, and until another, similar case filed by the Coalition for Access to Regulated and Safe Cannabis (CARSC) is completed, which is calling for the OCM to open up licensing to all.
Judge Kevin Bryant has said that the OCM will no longer be able to issue licenses until the court gives further orders.
Speaking to Spectrum Local News, Legal analyst Matt Morey, commented: “If the creation of the entire CAURD programme is deemed to be unconstitutional, then that would then raise the question as to whether or not previously issued licenses are in fact invalid at this point under the programme, and that remains to be seen.”
