The New York Cannabis Control Board (“CCB”) held a momentous meeting on November 21, 2022 wherein it continued to issue more conditional cultivation, processing, and dispensing licenses, but, perhaps more importantly, proposed for issuance the first set of adult-use cannabis regulations that will govern all of the non-conditional licenses issued to date.

New York, both through the CCB and the Office of Cannabis Management (“OCM”),… More

New York continue to take steps towards its goal of commencing adult-use sales within the next several weeks (if not months). Today, the Office of Cannabis Management (“OCM”) issued guidance for the conduct and operation of adult-use retail dispensaries, both specifically in reference to Conditional Adult Use Retail Dispensaries (“CAURD”), but more broadly, for all retailers moving forward.

In its twenty-seven (27) page guidance document, OCM began identifying the rules of the road for retailers seeking to operate in New York,… More

Key Takeaways:

• 
• Pardons are long overdue. States need to follow the President’s lead
• Descheduling or Rescheduling will take time and would be subject to administrative rule making
• While capital markets could unlock and the heavy drag of 280E could go away, descheduling or rescheduling would create huge challenges for state rules, including social equity, and could result in a wave of interstate commerce

Today,… More

The New York Office of Cannabis Management has released the number of conditional adult-use retail dispensaries the state will permit for each region. The state will award a maximum of 150 conditional adult-use retail dispensary (CAURD) licenses. The license caps are tied to the area’s population, with the highest number of these dispensaries being in Manhattan (22), Long Island (20), and Brooklyn (19), as indicated in the table below.

In order to qualify for a CAURD license,… More

The New York State Cannabis Control Board (“CCB”) approved 15 Adult-Use Conditional Processor (“AUCP”) licenses during its public meeting today, adding a key link in the state’s budding adult-use cannabis supply chain.  Pursuant to the legislation signed by Governor Hochul in February, which we wrote about here, processors who hold a Cannabinoid Hemp Processor license from the Office of Cannabis Management (“OCM”) qualify to apply for the adult-use conditional processor license. … More

Today, the Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) announced it will begin accepting applications for the Conditional Adult-Use Retail Dispensary (CAURD) license on August 25, 2022 – which is just two weeks away.

CAURD Licenses will be the first adult-use retail dispensary licenses issued in New York State. In order to qualify for a conditional adult-use marijuana retail license, applicants must have faced a conviction for a cannabis-related offense prior to March 31,… More

Key Takeaways:

• The Massachusetts Legislature has proposed new limitations on community impact fees, which may change the dynamic of the relationship between licensees and their host communities.
• Once effective, the Cannabis Control Commission would be charged with reviewing the community impact fee provisions of both new and existing HCAs for compliance.
• Specific limitations on community impact fees include a prohibition on fees tied to a percentage of gross sales.…

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Yesterday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) formally filed the much-anticipated Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act (CAOA), a comprehensive bill to decriminalize, regulate, and tax cannabis. If passed, the CAOA would end federal cannabis prohibition by removing cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act, and establish a federal regulatory framework to “protect public health and safety;… More

It’s official: New York’s first cannabis dispensaries will be owned by social equity applicants who have prior cannabis-related convictions.

During Thursday’s meeting, the Cannabis Control Board (“CCB”) voted to adopt final regulations for the (CAURD) licenses. The Board also signed off on a mockup of the application, which can be found here. In order to qualify for a CAURD license, applicants must prove they are justice-involved (meaning they or a direct family member were convicted of a marijuana crime before March 31,… More

Medical Cannabis in the DMV

Continuing this year’s trend of increased access to legal cannabis in the Maryland, DC and Virginia area that started with Maryland adding legalization to the ballot in November, DC and Virginia recently relaxed the requirements for accessing their licensed medical cannabis dispensaries, which should result in increased customers and sales.

Washington, DC

In Washington,… More