State Supreme Court Judge Keeps New York's Cannabis Rollout On Pause, Leaving Future Shops In Limbo

Hundreds of New York cannabis entrepreneurs with dispensary licenses are stuck in limbo after State Supreme Court Judge Kevin Bryant delayed his decision Friday on whether to lift an order blocking their stores from opening.

Some of these license holders were just days or weeks away from opening their shops when Judge  Bryant issued a temporary restraining order earlier this week blocking any new dispensaries from opening and state regulators from issuing new licenses. The judge was expected to rule on Friday on whether to extend or overturn the restraining order but ended up delaying his decision for at least two weeks to allow the parties to come up with a solution among themselves.

Justice Bryant had previously said that without a court order blocking the licensing program “immediate and irreparable injury, loss or damage will result.”

What happened: The judge issued the temporary injunction after four disabled veterans sued the state Office of Cannabis Management and Cannabis Control Board last week. 

The judge sided with the veterans who argued that the Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act (MRTA), which legalized cannabis, was prioritizing licenses for individuals with prior drug convictions. The veterans argued that they should also be in a prioritized group.

They said they had intended to open their own cannabis shops but were not eligible for a license under the program that state officials created to launch the legal industry, known as the Conditional Adult Use Retail Dispensary or CAURD.

The MRTA calls for state cannabis officials to establish a social and economic equity plan that prioritizes the consideration of certain applicants and lists “service-disabled veterans” as one of the groups.

Friday's Much-Anticipated Hearing

At the Friday court hearing in upstate NY, a lawyer for the veterans argued that members of the state Office of Cannabis Management and Cannabis Control Board unconstitutionally usurped the authority of state lawmakers when they created the CAURD program, reported The Gothamist. He said the program cherry-picks from the broader range of criteria the MRTA dictates should be taken into account when prioritizing social equity applicants, including veteran status, adding that his clients were missing out on economic opportunities by not having a “first-mover advantage: in the recreational market.

Talk It Over

Judge Bryant ultimately concluded the hearing by asking state cannabis officials and CAURD participants to work with the service-disabled veterans to find a compromise that would benefit everyone.

“You just need to communicate with each other and come up with ideas,” Bryant said. “You can do that quickly if you’re committed.”