In yet another setback for the legal marijuana industry in New York, a state Supreme Court judge has put a hold on all marijuana licenses.
Marijuana was legalized in New York in 2021, with state lawmakers and officials declaring that the first batch of licenses for marijuana retail outlets would be reserved for small nonprofit organizations and “justice-impacted individuals” who have been negatively impacted by the war on drugs.
Earlier this month a group of military veterans sued the state claiming that this approach is unconstitutional and violates their rights given they are not eligible for the initial licenses.
On August 7 New York Supreme Court Judge Kevin Bryant issued an injunction, which was uphold 11 days later.
Last week the state listed 30 applicants it believes are exempt from the injunction, with Judge Bryant indicating on Friday that some of the 30 would be allowed to open for business.
On Monday, however, the judge said that the state provided “contradictory and confusing” information and “appears to admit that not all 30 applicants have met all licensing requirements.” Because of this the state “failed to comply” with the order, leading to Judge Bryant to direct the state to resubmit a list of applicants that might be exempt to the injunction “under oath.”
Judge Bryant will then “promptly issue an Order that addresses each individual licensee on a case-by-case basis”.
“Today is an unfortunate step backwards in this ongoing litigation, where hundreds of small businesses, thousands of potential employees, and NY’s legal cannabis consumers are being irreparably harmed by a lawsuit brought by four individuals,” Osbert Orduña, CEO of The Cannabis Place (which has a CAURD application to operate in Queens in progress), told MZBizDaily.
Orduña says the business has already spent more than $3 million trying to open.
