New York Adult-Use Sales Will Begin Before the End of the Year

New York Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) Director Chris Alexander said last week that there would be some dispensaries open “before the end of the year,” Spectrum News reports. Alexander’s comments run contrary to remarks made just last month, when, at an event in Yonkers, he said the state would not begin accepting industry applications until “the middle of next year.” 

During a public forum in May, Cannabis Control Board Chair Tremaine Wright said adult-use cannabis products could be available from conditional cultivators in the fall but did not offer a firm date at that time. OCM and Cannabis Control Board members have yet to provide further details about when the state’s first dispensaries will open or an updated timeline, but officials have previously stated that the state’s first adult-use sales will happen before 2023.  

Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) has indicated that the timeline remains on track, with about 20 dispensaries coming online per month after the initial launch, the report says. 

During his remarks Friday, Alexander said farmers across the state that have received conditional cultivation licenses have grown a sufficient amount to stock dispensaries were sales to commence before the end of the year.  

“We know now, having toured the state, that the crop will be ready, that it will be high-quality, that it will be sun-grown. And before the end of the year, we’ll have some of our dispensaries open. … We can’t be more specific than that. It will be in a rolling wave, though. We’ll have them keep coming online as they continue to be secured and built out.” ” — Alexander via Spectrum News 

New York’s first adult-use dispensary licenses will be awarded to social equity applicants, under a plan announced by Hochul in March. In all, the state has received more than 900 retail dispensary applications for 150 available licenses.