The New York State Cannabis Control Board will hold a public board meeting on Friday, Dec. 8, at 10.30 a.m. at Empire State Plaza Convention Center, Meeting Rooms 6, Albany, NY 12242. Members of the public are invited to comment, should they wish to do so. The event will also be livestreamed. Meanwhile, a court has lifted an injunction, put in place since August 2023, to allow the Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) to continue reviewing applications for Conditional Adult Use Retail Dispensary (CAURD) licenses.

 

Board Member Dr. Jennifer Gilbert Jenkins will be joining via livestream from SUNY Morrisville, Bicknell Hall, Room 212, 80 Eaton St. Morrisville, NY 13408, in a location accessible to the public. Board Member Adam Perry will be joining from 181 Ellicott St., Buffalo, NY 14203 in a location accessible to the public. Board Member Jessica García will be joining via live stream from a private location due to extraordinary circumstances.

 

The meeting will be open to the public. Due to space limitations at the venue, only a limited number of members of the public will be able to attend in person. Members of the public are encouraged, but not required to, pre-register if they wish to attend in person, to facilitate easier check-in prior to the meeting. Registration is not required to view a live streaming video link.

 

Public comment will be allowed during a designated comment period as part of the meeting. Participating individuals should indicate their desire to participate in public comment when pre-registering and/or checking in prior to the meeting. Individuals must limit their remarks to two minutes and remarks should be related to specific agenda items.

 

Additional comments may be submitted online using this public comment form. Online submissions will be part of the official record of the meeting and will be documented in the meeting minutes. All online comments must be submitted by 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 12.

 

Meanwhile, on Friday, Dec. 1, the New York State Supreme Court lifted a preliminary injunction that had prevented the Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) from processing or reviewing Conditional Adult Use Retail Dispensary (CAURD) licenses since Aug. 7. The hundreds of provisional CAURD licensees impacted by this injunction will now be able to move forward with their plans to open adult-use cannabis dispensaries once they are compliant with New York’s laws and regulations.

 

Chris Alexander, executive director of New York’s Office of Cannabis Management and Tremaine Wright, chair of the Cannabis Control Board, issued the following statements following the ruling.

 

“Today is a good day for New York, for the dream of equity in cannabis, and for every New Yorker hoping to have a legal, licensed cannabis dispensary in their community,” Alexander wrote. “New York is the only state in the nation where those harmed by prohibition, including non-profits serving formerly incarcerated individuals, are the building blocks of our cannabis industry, and we are immensely proud of this.”

 

He continued, “I’m also deeply relieved for the many entrepreneurs, who have spent the last three months trapped in limbo, who are now able to open their cannabis businesses, and for our communities, which will soon begin to see more stores open faster. We never stopped fighting for the licensees whose applications can now move forward, and we’ll always continue to support them. The work continues and the whole team at OCM, thanks to the unyielding support of Gov. Hochul, will deliver on the promise of the MRTA.”

 

For her part, Wright said, “I am pleased that the New York State Supreme Court has lifted the preliminary injunction. This decision brings much needed relief to the hundreds of provisional licensees who, until now, have had their businesses sidelined.  We remain dedicated to upholding a fair and transparent process as we continue to grow and support New York’s cannabis industry.”

 

The Dec. 8th board meeting can now be watched below via YouTube.

NYS Cannabis Control Board hold a board meeting, a section of which was devoted to comments from the public, on Friday, Dec. 8, 2023. Video courtesy of the Office of Cannabis Management via YouTube

 

See our previous coverage on this topic here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.