New York to issue 1,500 more marijuana business licenses

New York regulators plan to issue as many as 1,500 new marijuana business licenses as unsold cannabis continues to build up among growers in a market where only a couple of dozen retailers have opened their doors.

The state’s Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) on Tuesday said it will begin accepting applications Oct. 4 for cultivation, retail, processing and microbusiness licenses, Bloomberg first reported.

The application window will open for 60 days.

The state has issued about 700 conditional licenses, including:

• 463 for social equity retailers and 10 for nonprofit retailers under its conditional adult-use retail dispensary (CAURD) program.
• 273 for cultivation.
• 40 for processing.

The vast majority of CAURD holders and applicants are in a holding pattern after an August ruling by a New York judge that halted all business applications and approvals to open adult-use stores in the state.

These businesses should prepare to apply during the next licensing window, which opens Oct. 4, OCM Executive Director Chris Alexander told a subcommittee meeting of the state’s Cannabis Advisory Board, according to Green Market Report.

Despite promises of a robust retail market, only 23 licensed dispensaries are operational in New York, which launched adult-use sales in late December.

Those retailers reported total sales eclipsing $70 million through late August, according to the latest state statistics.

Nearly half that total was generated in July and August.