New York medical cannabis delivery expands, and liquor stores lobby to sell MJ

Don’t miss our MJBiz LinkedIn Live covering “Women Leaders in Cannabis: Shattering the Grass Ceiling” on Wednesday, March 27, at 2 p.m. ET. Visit LinkedIn to register!


(This story has been updated to correct the number of storefronts each medical marijuana company in New York is allowed.)

New York’s cannabis industry is changing quickly with the expansion of home medical marijuana delivery, and now there’s also news that liquor stores are aiming to enter the MJ space.

Here’s some background related to the recent expansions of delivery services in the state:

  • According to The Journal News of New York, Curaleaf plans to start MMJ deliveries in Westchester, Rockland, Putnam, Dutchess and Ulster.
  • Those deliveries will add to the existing MMJ-distribution footprint of Vireo Health, which also offers delivery in many of those areas.
  • Columbia Care is another MMJ company that offers delivery to patients across the state.
  • Both Vireo and Columbia Care launched home delivery in New York last year.

Home delivery is likely an important factor for New York’s 10 medical marijuana companies since they’re limited to four storefronts apiece – meaning many registered patients face a long drive to a brick-and-mortar MMJ dispensary.

In other New York news, a group of wine and liquor store owners called The Last Store on Main Street has been lobbying state lawmakers for the right to sell cannabis alongside licensed MMJ companies, according to the Staten Island Advance.

“Bringing sales into wine and liquor stores would not only expedite revenue generation and keep costs low, it would eliminate a real threat to thousands of small businesses (of losing business because of the increased availability of MJ),” a spokesman for the liquor store coalition told the Advance.

A bill to legalize adult-use marijuana in New York is expected to be introduced during the upcoming 2019 legislative session, which begins Jan. 3.