First 7 pot shop licenses issued for Long Island 

State regulators on Monday issued licenses to seven applicants to open Long Island's first recreational marijuana shops. The businesses will be allowed to start delivering their products to customers within weeks, while they work to set up their storefronts.

The Cannabis Control Board, meeting in Harlem, approved three dozen licenses statewide under New York's conditional license program, which is designed to prioritize New Yorkers directly impacted by the inequitable enforcement of old marijuana laws. Black New Yorkers were 15 times more likely and Latino residents were eight times more likely to be arrested for marijuana than white people over the past 30 years, regulators said. Research shows these groups use marijuana at similar rates.

Each of the successful Long Island applications includes a "justice involved" individual, meaning someone who was convicted of a marijuana-related offense or is related to someone who was, according to a news release.  Applicants must have owned a business that turned a profit for at least two years.

At least three of the licensees have operated businesses on the Island: Albert D. Capraro, who owned a glass business in Commack; Growth Industries NY LLC, launched by former Centereach smoke shop owner Daniel Connolly and GI New York LLC; and Hydo  Phonics, started by Bryan Whalen and John Alvarez, who ran a home construction and remodeling business in Suffolk County, according to state regulators. Others opening on the Island — Brian Stark Enterprises LLC, Strain Stars LLC, Root 13 LLC and Keep it 100 LLC — are led by people who have run businesses in Brooklyn or Queens.

The licensees didn’t respond to requests for comment or couldn’t immediately be reached

Specific locations of the shops have not been determined, said Chris Alexander, executive director of the Office of Cannabis Management, which oversees industry regulations for hemp as well as for medical and recreational marijuana. 

“These are the types of individuals and organizations that the [Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act] envisioned as the bedrock of our industry," Alexander said, citing the law that legalized recreational marijuana. "It’s incredible to see."

Businesses awarded licenses will get help setting up their stores. The state's construction financing team, the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York, contracted former NBA Star Chris Webber and an investment team to pull together $200 million by Sept. 1 for finding, outfitting and leasing dispensaries to conditional licensees. DASNY spokesman Jeffrey Gordon declined to say how much Webber's team had raised or how many storefronts have been lined up.

Hopefuls listed the five regions they'd prefer to operate in as part of their application. Those licensed Monday were assigned to a particular region. They will work with state officials to lock in specific retail locations, Alexander said.

At least one recreational marijuana shop will open somewhere in the state by the end of the year, Alexander said. He declined to say how many others may be operating by then.

Alexander said the three dozen licensees announced Monday could begin delivering marijuana to customers once they finish paperwork, which he estimated would take a couple of weeks. They can't use third-party delivery platforms like Uber and DoorDash and will receive more details on how to make sure customers are at least 21, OCM said.

New York began establishing a recreational cannabis supply chain in April when conditional or temporary licenses were issued to farmers with experience growing hemp, which comes from the same plant species as marijuana. Regulators have handed out conditional licenses for processing products and begun working on regulations that will eventually open licenses up to a range of companies. 

 "This is just the start," Cannabis Control Board Chair Tremaine Wright said. "We will continue to work to build an industry that is open to anyone who wants to participate."  

A federal lawsuit may delay sales in five regions: Brooklyn, the Mid-Hudson, the Finger Lakes, Central New York and Western New York. Variscite NY One Inc., which is mostly owned by a business owner convicted of a marijuana offense in Michigan, filed a complaint alleging that the state's licensing protocols "discriminate against citizens of other states." Earlier this month, a judge barred the state from issuing conditional licenses in the geographic areas eyed by Variscite NY One.

"We don’t comment on pending litigation," agency spokesman Freeman Klopott said in a statement. "We are additionally committed to getting New York's cannabis supply chain fully operational."

Correction: The name of the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York was incorrect in an earlier version of this story.

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.