According to a new report, New Yorkers waiting to apply for adult-use marijuana licenses are going to have to wait until 2023.
Tremaine Wright, chairperson of the five-member Cannabis Control Board (CCB), said during a cannabis symposium in Rochester that licenses needed to operate adult-use dispensaries in the state likely won’t be issued until 2023 “at the earliest.”
The CCB is now working on an 18-month timeline to write the regulations that will dictate the state’s cannabis market.
“What we do control is getting [dispensaries] licensing and giving them all the tools so they can work within our systems,” Wright said. “That’s what we are saying will be achieved in 18 months. Not that they’re open, not that they’ll be full-blown operations, because we don’t know that,” he added according to WXXI News.
The Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) is tasked with setting guidelines, regulations, and issuing licenses necessary for residents to distribute, process, farm, and open dispensaries and consumption locations.
Since Gov. Kathy Hochul replaced former Governor Andrew Cuomo, she said one of her “top priorities” as governor is to get the state’s cannabis industry up and running.
Cuomo had received criticism from cannabis activists and legislators for not making appointments months after he signed The Marijuana Regulation and Tax Act (MRTA), the state’s adult-use cannabis law.