Thousands of New York license applicants may have to wait a decade to open their stores 👀

NY, NY
Thousands of NY license applicants may have to wait 10 years to open stores 

Driving the news: The New York Cannabis Control Board (CCB) met on Friday.

The chief regulatory body of the state’s cannabis program continued to endure anger over the pace of license approvals, while also taking a second shot at updating marketing, packaging, and labeling rules.

Over 2,000 license applicants are still waiting for review at least 20 months after they applied for a license — many of them applied in December of 2023, known as the December queue. 

In that time, aspiring operators have had to sit on the sidelines while paying legal fees as well as rent and utilities on property — a key part of the license application — that they cannot yet use.

And at Friday's meeting, many of these December queue applicants learned they may not be able to open their doors until 2033, over a decade after they’ve applied. 

Frustration from these applicants has become a recurring theme of the public comment period of the CCB’s monthly meeting. These complaints have become increasingly angry in recent months.

What they’re saying: Chair Jessica Garcia reminded the audience that the board was not legally required to provide an open comment period. 

“Commentators are expected to maintain decorum. Speakers should engage in civil discourse and refrain from obscene or offensive language, threats of violence or personal attacks,” Garcia said.

And also: "It is deeply disheartening that while applicants like myself are still waiting for even a review of our applications, the larger ROs [registered organizations] and MSOs [multi-state operators] have already received both reviews and licenses,” Wendy Bertrand, a prospective licensee, said.

By the numbers: 436 dispensaries have opened in New York out of the 674 CCB-approved retail licenses.

On Friday, The board approved 52 applications, including 17 retail and six microbusiness licenses, two of which include retail, bringing the total number of approved licenses to 1,850.

Most of those approvals were for applicants from November 2023. 

There are still over 2,700 retail license applicants, nearly 900 microbusiness license applicants, and hundreds of cultivator, processor, and distributor license applications waiting for approval from the December queue. 

“That queue is on hold until we get through the November queue,” Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) Chief Operating Officer Patrick McKeage said.

McKeage explained that the board has been averaging about 24 store approvals per month. 

Even if the state can ramp up that number to about 40, the final approval for the December 2023 queue could come as late as 2033, about five years after the OCM — which is overseen by the CCB — expects the state’s retail market to become saturated.

"By the end of 2028, the market will hit a strain point, where shops will start to have to close," McKeage said.

New marketing, packaging and labeling rules: The board originally presented new regulations in March that would have expanded how dispensaries were allowed to promote their store, including rules that pertained to billboard advertising. 

Two months later, the board rescinded the proposal over legal concerns because the law, which legalized cannabis in New York in the first place, specifically bans the use of billboard advertising.

The new rules allow coupons and loyalty programs, and give producers the ability to use brand reps. They also bar bubble or cartoon-like fonts and neon colors, or any visual references that look like well-known candy or cereal products that could be attractive to kids. Audio ads cannot include children's voices.

Dispensaries and cannabis events are allowed to post signs up to 55 square feet in size as long as they're within 100 yards of the location. They can go as large as 16 square feet when more than 100 yards away from the facility or event space's entrance.

As of Friday’s meeting, there is a 45-day period for public comment, after which that board will vote to finalize the rules, or rewrite them.

-ZH

“This is not common-sense law,” Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said in a letter calling on President Trump to block Congressional appropriations language that would block the Drug Enforcement Administration from rescheduling cannabis to Schedule III. 

“It stops a process that is already underway to accomplish a policy end that is overwhelmingly supported by the medical and scientific communities as well as the American people — of every political party."

Wisconsin restaurant accidentally serves THC oil to customers 😬

A restaurant in Wisconsin, which shares a space with an edibles manufacturer, accidentally used THC-infused oil to make pizza, garlic bread, and submarine sandwiches, according to a Center for Disease Control (CDC) report — leading to this funny line in the report. About 85 customers, including some minors, reported THC intoxication after the fact, and though a few people were hospitalized, everyone seems to thankfully be okay. 

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Applications for cannabis licenses in New York can take between 12-18 months before the business can open. But not all applicants make it that far. 

The average time span between application and approval is about 10 months, but only 83.7% of applicants make it to final approvals. Of those, only 76.3% actually open for business, according to data presented at the Friday Cannabis Control Board meeting. 

The CCB predicted that about 64% of applicants from December awaiting review will actually open for business, based on their data: 

ICE raid at major pot operation clouds picture for legal cannabis in California | The Los Angeles Times