Pot license applications opened to all

The state began accepting applications online for five types of recreational pot licenses Wednesday and will take submissions through Dec. 4, according to the New York Office of Cannabis Management.

The agency, which regulates the medical and recreational marijuana markets, will expedite its review of applications received by Nov. 3 from aspiring retailers and microbusinesses that have storefronts. All other types of applicants — cultivators, processors and distributors — must have business premises to be eligible for licenses, OCM said.

This is the first time the state will consider credentials from all types of businesses and entrepreneurs. Prior "conditional" licenses were earmarked for farmers who weathered the tumultuous hemp market and retailers who have — or were closely related to someone who had — a marijuana conviction. The rollout of pot shops has been slow and delayed, in part, by ongoing legal challenges to the conditional retail license program.

“This is a significant moment for entrepreneurs who have been waiting for an opportunity to join this consequential market," OCM Executive Director Christopher Alexander said in a statement. "New York’s market is centered around equity, with the nation’s strongest anti-trust protections in place that ensures small operators will forever have a place in our cannabis industry."

OCM plans to periodically reopen applications in the future and issue more than 1,000 credentials in the first round. In this batch, regulators expect to authorize between 500 and 1,000 retailers, about 40 cultivators, roughly 155 processors and 30 distributors, according to an FAQ published by OCM.

The state envisions approving about 220 microbusinesses, which may grow, process, sell and deliver pot on a small scale. In most cases, companies and their investors will need to stick to either the supply or retail side of the industry — a division the state believes will help new entrants compete with bigger businesses, and eventually medical marijuana firms, which tend to be bigger and have operations in several states. 

The state aims to issue half of all licenses to social and economic equity applicants, which includes: people from communities disproportionately impacted by the enforcement of old marijuana laws, minority-owned businesses, women-owned firms, companies owned by veterans disabled during their military service and distressed farmers.

The state will organize submissions by license type and then divide each license type into a pool for general applicants and a pool for social and economic equity applicants, according to Neil Kaufman, an attorney who works with cannabis businesses. Retail applicants will also be divided between those who have locations and those who don't and are seeking "provisional" licenses, a credential that gives them 12 months to secure space.

The social and economic equity application pools will factor in whether candidates qualify for the designation in multiple categories, Kaufman said. OCM didn't respond to questions seeking more detail on how equity applications will be handled.

A "randomized process" will create a queue of applications in each pool. The state will review applications in the order they're presented until it hits its target number of licenses, the FAQ said.

By Sarina Trangle

sarina.trangle@newsday.comSarinaTrangle

Sarina Trangle covers affordability and cost of living issues and other business topics. She previously worked as an editor and reporter at amNewYork.