KINGSTON – State Supreme Court Justice Kevin Bryant left a temporary restraining order in place Friday that prevents the opening of cannabis businesses after a lawsuit filed last week by a group of service-disabled vets, which claimed left them out of the out of the program as a high priority group, like those previous marijuana offenders, for licensure and thus violated the New York State Cannabis law.
Attorneys for the plaintiffs, four individuals, argued their clients are at a competitive disadvantage because others are prioritized to get their licenses earlier, and lawyers for the state argued the same matter for an entire industry while the temporary restraining order is in place.
“This needs to be resolved to everybody’s benefit,” said Bryant, after listening to oral arguments.
Bryant has ordered attorneys for both sides back into his courtroom Friday, August 25 for more arguments before rendering a decision to lift the temporary restraining order
Recipients of the Conditional Adult Use Retail Dispensary (CUARD) licenses, which included service-disabled vets, rallied outside the Ulster County Courthouse prior the hearing, hoping the temporary restraining order would be lifted.
After the hearing, they were disappointed no decision was rendered Friday.
“It’s obviously a decision we did not want to hear,” said Hugosbely Rivas, vice-president of the Long Island Cannabis Coalition, an advocacy group. “This is definitely going to impact a lot of people.”
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