Following a months-long legal standoff that had New York cannabis shop owners in a holding pattern and state regulators unable to hand out new business licenses, the doors are finally opening.
With last week's lifting of a NY Supreme Court injunction, which had been in place since August after a group of veterans sued over the state's licensing process, the Cannabis Control Board (CCB) gave the green light to six of 10 licensed medical marijuana companies operating in New York to begin selling recreational weed on Dec. 29, one year to the day after adult-use sales launched in New York in 2022.
The six medical marijuana companies, some of which are multi-state operators (MSO), that were given permission to sell adult-use cannabis include:
Columbia Care (OTCQX: CCHWF); Curaleaf NY LLC (OTCQX: CURLF); Etain LLC, which is owned by Riv Capital (OTCPK: CNPOF); NYCANNA LLC, which is owned by Acreage Holdings Inc. (OTCQX: ACRHF), PharmaCann of New York LLC and Valley Agriceuticals LLC, which is owned by Cresco Labs (OTCQX: CRLBF), according to the Green Market Report.
Tremaine Wright, chairperson of the CCB, stressed the importance of putting the litigation in the rearview mirror and moving New York's cannabis industry forward.
"It was an unnecessary delay in the progress of cannabis in New York state. We are so thankful that it now has ended and we have come to a settlement," Wright said per Spectrum News. "There is room for everyone, for all business types and we have a multitude of licensing opportunities."
GMR also noted that the six companies were permitted to set up co-located recreational sales at up to three of their existing medical marijuana (MMJ) shops, though, at the moment, they're only approved for a single shop that can open on Dec. 29. Four other New York MMJ companies that were not mentioned during the CCB meeting, wrote the outlet, are eligible to apply for transition into New York's potentially billion-dollar recreational weed market, include Citiva Medical LLC, which is owned by iAnthus Capital Holdings Inc. (OTCQB: ITHUF), Fiorello Pharmaceuticals, owned by Green Thumb Industries (OTCQX: GTBIF), MedMen (OTCQX: MMNFF), Vireo Health International, which does business as Goodness Growth Holdings (CSE:GDNS) (OTCQX: GDNSF).
"We expect New York to be the hub, or one of the hubs, for legal cannabis on the East Coast," said Curaleaf CEO Matt Darin in October. "And so we're very bullish and we've invested a lot of capital and time to be able to maximize the opportunity."