New York regulators approved 99 new provisional licenses for recreational marijuana dispensaries Monday as they try to speed up the rollout of a legal market that had been impeded by a court ruling.
last week, paving the way for the Cannabis Control Board to provisionally approve licenses in those areas as part of the 99 green-lighted Monday. Applicants still need to complete a supplemental application.
“We’re absolutely thrilled that we’re able to expand the rollout of legalized cannabis across almost every region of the state,” said board chairwoman Tremaine Wright.Licensing was temporarily blocked by a federal judge hearing a legal challenge to the state’s selection process. The company Variscite NY One claims that the state’s selection process favors New York residents over out-of-state residents in violation of constitutional interstate commerce protections.
The ruling last week from the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals allows the state to hand out licenses in Brooklyn, central New York, the mid-Hudson region and western New York, while upholding the block on them in the Finger Lakes region while a lawsuit continues.