New York regulators will officially open the state’s cannabis market to all applicants—including big businesses and existing medical marijuana companies—beginning next month, under rules adopted on Tuesday. The move could allow the new retailers to open by the end of the year.
But the change, meant to speed the slow rollout of New York’s legal marijuana market, has sparked an outcry among smaller growers and social equity applicants. They say it will undercut the state’s ambitious plan to prioritize small businesses and companies owned by people most directly impacted by prohibition.
The New York State Cannabis Control Board (CCB) approved a handful of resolutions at its latest meeting, including the new rules allowing the state’s existing medical marijuana dispensaries to transition to the adult-use market more quickly than initially planned. Originally medical marijuana companies were to be prohibited from competing with new businesses for three years after the start of legal sales in New York, but with Tuesday’s change, that will be cut down to about one year.
“Today marks the most significant expansion of New York’s legal cannabis market since legalization, and we’ve taken a massive step towards reaching our goal of having New Yorkers being able access safer, regulated cannabis across the state,” Chris Alexander, executive director of the Office of Cannabis Management (OCM), said in a statement. “The regulations finalized today are the result…
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