New York issues 68 adult-use marijuana permits; many still pending

New York regulators approved 68 adult-use marijuana licenses, but more than 3,000 applications filed a year ago are still pending.

That’s partially because regulators want to avoid flooding the market as state-regulated recreational cannabis sales approach the $1 billion mark, Felicia Reid, the Office of Cannabis Management’s acting executive director, told Spectrum News 1.

During Tuesday’s Cannabis Control Board (CCB) meeting, the last of the year, regulators issued:

• 2 cultivator licenses.
• 21 distributor licenses.
• 6 microbusiness licenses, which allow holders to cultivate, process and sell cannabis.
• 24 processor licenses.
• 15 retail licenses.

Regulators also highlighted the 261 recreational marijuana retailers open across the state – and the 400 illicit stores shut down and padlocked – as milestones reached in 2024.

“The New York State cannabis industry continues to set and exceed its benchmarks,” CCB Chair Tremaine Wright said in a statement.

“With 261 dispensaries open and more than $900 million in retail sales to-date, we are seeing the real-world impacts of our efforts to support entrepreneurs, create industry leading jobs and to generate revenue for our communities.”

New York marijuana market recovery?

New York legalized adult-use marijuana in March 2021 but did not record the first sale until December 2022, as lawsuits and bureaucracy led to what officials acknowledge is a botched rollout.

New enforcement powers granted authorities last spring – combined with ramped-up licensing – appears to have righted the ship somewhat: New York issued nearly 1,400 permits of all types in 2024 alone.

However, there’s much more room to grow.

Research suggests the state could support as many as 2,000 marijuana stores, Reid said Tuesday.

Thousands of permits pending

The Office of Cannabis Management is processing about 100 applications per month and has fewer than 300 left to assess from submissions received during a November 2023 application window.

However, “about 3,000” applications received during a separate December 2023 permit window “remain untouched,” Spectrum noted.

Many of those applicants are paying rent on retail locations that can’t generate any revenue while applicants await a licensing decision, Assembly Leader Crystal Peoples-Stokes, a legalization bill sponsor, told the CCB on Tuesday.

Stokes also pointed out that social equity operators have been saddled with high-cost loans, according to The City.

License fees totaling $20 million from medical marijuana license holders are supposed to partially fund capital made available to qualified social equity applicants, but MMJ operators are challenging that fee structure in court.