A further 74 cannabis retail licenses have been granted by New York’s Cannabis Control Board (CCB), despite mounting legal action slowing the licensing progress.
During its latest meeting, held on Friday, February 14, the regulator also granted the Office for Cannabis Management (OCM) subpoena powers and launched a new Trade Practice Bureau in fresh efforts to crack down on unlicensed sellers.
More controversially, a new Public Convenience and Advantage (PCA) proposal was advanced, aiming to modify zoning restrictions that govern how close dispensaries can be located to one another.
Of the 74 new retail adult-use licenses granted last week, 39 were for processors, 16 were for retailers, 10 were for microbusinesses, six were for distributors, and three were for conditional retailers.
According to the OCM, the state has now issued more than 240 final conditional adult-use retail dispensary (CAURD) licensees, while a further 300 licensees are continuing to search for viable retail locations.
The #NYCCB has approved 74 adult-use licenses. For a detailed breakdown of license distribution, please see below.
The Office is actively reviewing and issuing additional adult-use licenses on a rolling basis. pic.twitter.com/v7nxZBDos1
— NYS Office of Cannabis Management (@nys_cannabis) February 14, 2025
As for the meaty backlog of applications awaiting approval, 2000 were reportedly reviewed from the November 2023 queue, with a further 5000 applications pending in the December queue.
The newly established Trade Practice Bureau will be tasked with investigating predatory lending in the industry, licence stacking, and product diversions.
Elsewhere, the new PCA proposal would seek to reduce the minimum buffer zone between dispensaries from 1000 to 500 ft in cities with over 20,000 residents, and from 2000 to 1000 ft in smaller towns.
Businesses will also be required to prove an economic benefit before a PCA approval is granted, while waivers for hardship cases will be allowed.
The advancement of this bill proved controversial and was passed with a narrow margin.
A 45-day public comment period will now get underway, with heated responses from critics cautioning that existing license holders are already struggling against illegal operators are expected.
