New York’s Cannabis Control Board will award retail licenses and site protection to the plaintiffs whose lawsuits have halted the state’s legal weed rollout since August – as long as a judge approves two settlement agreements filed in court on Tuesday.
If approved, the settlements will lift the injunction that’s prevented more than 400 Conditional Adult-Use Retail Dispensary licensees from opening their shops, and end a months-long freeze on the social equity program.
It will also mark the second and third time the state has resolved challenges to the constitutionality of its CAURD program by issuing licenses (Variscite NY One filed suit in September of 2022 and the CCB later settled and granted the company a retail license).
“New York continues to address its deficiencies in its legislation and regulation process by giving out cannabis licenses,” said Jeffrey Hoffman, a cannabis-focused attorney, on Tuesday. “That’s not really a good precedent to set … everybody who sues gets licenses.”
The proposed recent settlements stem from two separate – but intertwined – legal challenges.
The Coalition for Access to Regulated & Safe Cannabis sued the state in March to compel regulators to open up licensing for all retail dispensary applicants immediately. Coalition members include five of New York’s medical cannabis companies: Curaleaf, PharmaCann (dba Verilife), Fiorello Pharmaceuticals (dba FP Wellness or Rise), NYCANNA (dba the Botanist or Acreage NY), and Citiva Medical (dba Be.).
Then, in August, four service-disabled veterans who intended to apply for dispensary licenses – Carmine Fiore, William Norgard, Steve Mejia and Dominic Spaccio – filed suit.
The veterans argued that the CCB and Office of Cannabis Management improperly limited eligibility for the CAURD program by only allowing “justice-involved individuals” who own a profitable “qualifying business” to apply.
This, they said, violates the U.S. Dormant Commerce Clause and New…
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