The OCM Grants 110 More Adult-Use Cannabis Licenses

Journal

Apr 5

Written By FP Team

Amidst struggling with New York’s adult-use cannabis market.

Cannabis | New York

Words by FP Team

JOANNA/UNSPLASH

New York City regulators rewarded 110 new adult-use cannabis business licenses, amidst struggling to launch a multibillion-dollar adult-use cannabis market regulators promised.

The state Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) voted to grant:

26 Micro Business licenses
25 Retail licenses
24 Cultivation licenses
14 Provisional Retail licenses
12 Processor licenses
09 Distribution licenses

It's unclear when the licensed businesses will be able to start operations – however, the 110 newly awarded cannabis licensed businesses are only a small fraction of cannabis entrepreneurs trying to enter the market. In the fall of 2023, the OCM received more than 1,500 adult-use cannabis business license applications. In December, cannabis regulators eventually granted 250 retail licenses out of the 1,500 applications that applied.

New York legalized cannabis in March of 2021, but it took the OCM nearly two years for the first legal dispensary to open in New York. Since then, New York cannabis retail accounts for at least $174 million in legal cannabis sales, according to the OCM report released in February.

As of Friday, 99 adult-use cannabis retail stores are open for business in New York, According to OCM data.