A New York judge on Friday blocked the state’s retail marijuana licensing program after a group of veterans sued over rules that allowed people with drug convictions to open the first dispensaries.
New York Supreme Court Justice Kevin Bryant blocked the state from processing or issuing marijuana dispensary licenses with an injunction that faulted regulators for creating a program that is at odds with the state law that legalized the drug, reports the Associated Press.
The order represents a large setback for the state’s legal marijuana industry, which has been defined by a slow licensing rollout, a glut of excess marijuana crops and legal challenges that have allowed an illicit market to boom.
The veterans’ lawsuit argues that state marijuana regulators improperly limited the initial round of licenses to people with prior marijuana convictions, rather than a wider group of so-called social equity applicants included in the original law. The judge last week temporarily blocked the state’s program as legal arguments in the case played out, with Friday’s order extending the shut down.
In a statement, a representative for the veterans said state regulators’ failure to follow the law have kept licenses out of the hands of veterans and other minority groups who were supposed to be prioritized.
“From the beginning, our fight has always been for equal access to this new and growing industry,” the statement said, adding “We look forward to working with the State and the Court to open the program to all eligible applicants.”
Lawyers for the state have warned the judge that any halting of the licensing program would financially harm those who have already begun spending money to establish businesses under provisional licenses. The state Office of Cannabis Management did not immediately have a comment on the order Friday.
Bryant, in his order, wrote that potential financial woes are the fault of state regulators who were undeniably aware of legal problems with the licensing rules.
