New York state’s ongoing quest to squash the illicit market and rescue its failed adult-use cannabis launch continued this week as regulators issued 109 more marijuana business licenses.
Newly licensed businesses combined with padlocking the doors of 164 illegal sellers, as of July 9, have led to a recent “50 percent increase in sales in downstate areas, like New York City,” Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a Wednesday news release.
144 licensed marijuana retailers
As of Thursday, 144 licensed retail marijuana stores were open for business across the state, according to New York’s Office of Cannabis Management.
The permits include cultivators, distributors, microbusinesses, processors and retailers, Hochul said.
Less than half are “new” permits, however: 58 of the 109 licenses issued Wednesday are conditional cultivators or processors “transitioning” to different licenses, according to the governor.
Of the new licenses:
- 23 are cultivators.
- 23 are microbusinesses.
- 22 are processors.
- 21 are retailers.
- 20 are distributors.
Adult-use market in recovery
New York legalized adult-use marijuana in March 2021, but the first sale was not recorded until December 2022.
Blame for the botched launch has been pinned on a mixture of bureaucratic snafus and an illicit market that grew while unchecked by authorities.
It’s estimated that several thousand illicit marijuana sellers might be in business in New York City alone.
An expanded crackdown, including the authority to padlock the doors of unlicensed merchants, began in April.
A steady march of lawsuits also hampered the state’s ambitious goals to launch what officials promised would be the most “equitable” market in the United States.
Hochul even branded the rollout of what was promised to be a multibillion-dollar market a “disaster” earlier this year.
Shortly thereafter, state officials released a scathing audit of the Office of Cannabis Management.
That prompted the resignation of the agency’s inaugural executive director, Chris Alexander.
2024 MJBiz Factbook – now available!
Exclusive industry data and analysis to help you make informed business decisions and avoid costly missteps. All the facts, none of the hype.
Featured inside:
- Financial forecasts + capital investment trends
- 200+ pages and 49 charts highlighting key data figures and sales trends
- State-by-state guide to regulations, taxes & market opportunities
- Monthly and quarterly updates, with new data & insights
- And more!
