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 stores 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.
