20 Of NY's 1st Retail Cannabis Licenses Allocated For Long Island

LONG ISLAND, NY — With the application portal for adult-use marijuana dispensaries set to open Thursday in New York, a total of 20 conditional licenses will be available for Long Island.

The Office of Cannabis Management said a maximum of 150 of the conditional licenses will be made available statewide. To see the breakdown, click here.

According to the office, to be eligible under the qualifying business criteria, applicants must provide documentation evidencing that at least 30 percent of the applicant is owned by one individual who is or has been "justice involved."

That means that they must have been convicted of a marijuana-related offense in New York before March 31, 2021, on either themselves or a parent, legal guardian, child, spouse, or dependent. The goal is to right the wrongs of those treated unfairly under past marijuana laws, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Gov. Kathy Hochul have said.

Also, they must have at least 10 percent ownership for at least two years in a business that had positive net profits during the individual’s ownership. They must also have sole control over the applicant, as defined by having the power to order or direct the policies, management, and managers of the business.

"This is a monumental step in establishing the most equitable, diverse, and accessible cannabis industry in the nation,” said Chris Alexander, executive director for the Office of Cannabis Management, in a statement. “We’ve worked to make this application as simple as possible for all interested applicants, and I cannot emphasize it enough that you do not need any legal expertise to fill this application out.”

The application process is one of the last steps toward opening recreational marijuana dispensaries in New York by the year's end.

New York legalized recreational marijuana in March 2021. The window for applications closes Sept. 26.

“The primary goal of the conditional adult-use retail dispensary (CAURD) license is to create opportunities for New Yorkers harmed most by the prohibition of cannabis," Aaron Ghitelman of the OCM told Patch. "Part of that is granting up to 150 CAURD licenses to individuals who themselves, or their close family members, have had past eligible cannabis-related offenses and have ownership stakes in profitable businesses. Individuals who receive CAURD licenses will have access to the $200 million social equity cannabis fund and the turnkey storefronts currently being secured and built out by Dormitory Authority of the State of New York, or DASNY. This first-in-the-nation fund will give these entrepreneurs the capital necessary to compete in New York’s adult-use cannabis market."

In anticipation of Thursday’s launch of the dispensary application, the cannabis management office has released the number of licenses available in each region. The dispensary applications will be reviewed on a regional basis, and the sequence of regional review will depend, in part, on the total number of applications in each region

Another group eligible for licenses are qualifying nonprofit organizations, specifically organizations with a history of serving justice-involved individuals and creating vocational opportunities for them, he said.

The cannabis management office plans to grant up to 25 licenses to non-profit organizations as a way of creating additional workforce development opportunities for justice-involved New Yorkers, Ghitelman said.

"Unlike individuals who receive CAURD licenses, these nonprofit applicants will not have access to the fund and will be required to provide their own compliant storefronts in order to receive a CAURD license," he said. "These dispensaries will help create further job opportunities for justice-involved individuals while their operations will support the important work the non-profit organizations are already doing across New York State.”

Granting applications to New Yorkers who had past marijuana convictions is integral to the "Seeding Opportunity Initiative."

Individuals with prior cannabis-related offenses were tapped to make the first adult-use cannabis sales with products grown by New York farmers, Gov. Kathy Hochul said in March.

Hochul unveiled the first-in-the-nation "Seeding Opportunity Initiative", a farm-to-store plan that she said will make sales in New York possible before the end of 2022, jumpstart New York's cannabis industry, guarantee support for future equity applicants, and secure an early investment into communities most impacted by the disproportionate enforcement of cannabis prohibition.

"New York State is making history, launching a first-of-its-kind approach to the cannabis industry that takes a major step forward in righting the wrongs of the past," Hochul said.

The regulations advanced by the cannabis control board will prioritize local farmers and entrepreneurs, creating jobs and opportunity for "communities that have been left out and left behind," she said. "I'm proud New York will be a national model for the safe, equitable and inclusive industry we are now building."

At a meeting in March, the cannabis control board advanced two components of the Seeding Opportunity Initiative.

The board also approved a license application for hemp farmers seeking to grow adult-use cannabis — called the adult-use conditional cultivator license. The license was made possible by legislation signed by Hochul The board designated March 15 as the opening date for the application portal. In April, the Cannabis Control Board approved 52 adult-use cannabis conditional cultivator licenses across the state.