New York awards 1st licenses for cannabis dispensaries
NEW YORK -- The New York State Cannabis Control Board approved its first 36 provisional licenses for retail dispensaries Monday.
Board members awarded Conditional Adult Use Retail Dispensary, or CAURD, licenses to 28 business owners with a criminal history connected to cannabis, along with eight non-profits that help incarcerated individuals re-enter society. These provisional licensees now have just a few more pieces of paperwork to fill out before they can open a dispensary, but the state said doors will start to open in the coming weeks.
A packed room applauded the moment votes of "aye" approved all 36 provisional CAURD licenses on the agenda. The state received more than 900 applications.
"Really, today is an amazing day," board member Jessica Garcia said to the crowd, smiling.
Erica Ford of LIFE Camp was among the first licensees to move forward. Her crew cannot wait to get started.
"It feels amazing to be a Black woman, a Black-led organization, working with socially justice-involved individuals whose community has been devastated by the war on drugs," Ford said.
The Office of Cannabis Management reports Black New Yorkers were once 15 times more likely to be arrested for cannabis than white New Yorkers. Latinos were eight times more likely to be arrested than whites. Now, the majority of legal licensees are people of color.
Cannabis NYC director Dasheeda Dawson said the city is ready to support them.
"Despite being new to the role as my record of testimony and advocacy reflects," Dawson said, "I've been fighting for the 'plug' to be legit in New York and across the country for many years."
Dawson plans to roll out cannabis programming to help the public understand the new regulations, as the state prepares the first storefront in Harlem.
"As a cannabis patient," Dawson said, "I am beyond grateful for this start and the work the state has already done. And as a public servant I am here to be a bridge."
The board also added new harvesters and processors to keep up with demand.
"You guys surprised us and it's been incredible what you've been able to do in one year," said provisional processing licensee Nicholas Guarino.
Still, some expressed emotions of disappointment at the difficulty they faced trying to apply, appealing to the board for more advocacy moving forward.
"We don't think that re-criminalizing them, adding fees will help them succeed," said Pilar DeJesus, an advocacy coordinator for Takeroot Justice. "We look at this as reparations for the harm, the violent harm that's been imposed on us."
"Even during the application process I thought this is not for us but let's make this happen, and we did," admitted Ford.
Guarino also brought up questions about enforcement through a plant tracking system.
"If we don't put bio-tracking in place and make everybody work under it, all of the big companies I've met with and talked to that are from out of state are like, 'we're going to come crush you' because there's no way for you guys to know that that's happening," Guarino said during the public comment period.
The board will consider these comments as part of the evolving industry regulation implementation, as they await the final paperwork from provisional CAURD licensees.
"There's one more part they have to fill out, so that's financial disclosures giving us a fuller picture of everybody that will be operating in the entity, so in terms of that operation, it should be the next couple weeks," said Chris Alexander, OCM executive director.
Renderings show the first dispensary in Harlem is already ready to go.
The board plans to announce the next round of provisional CAURD licensees at their December meeting. Up to 175 CAURD licenses will be issued in total, with up to 150 for individuals with a criminal history connected to cannabis.
Additionally, today opens the 60-day public comment period on 300 pages of proposed regulations for statewide cannabis law.