News Break
The initial 175 dispensary licenses issued by the state under New York’s legalization plan are reserved for individuals most harmed by cannabis prohibition.
Cannabis farm Photo by Photo by Cannafornia
The laws are intended to ensure that underprivileged neighborhoods and minority-owned companies profit from the marijuana sector, something that other states that legalized the drug may have missed.
The state Cannabis Control Board granted the first of 150 dispensary licenses to applicants with past cannabis possession offenses and business expertise on Monday, approving them provisionally for 28 people and companies. Through the establishment of a new $200 million social equity fund, those licensees will now have access to a retail location and financial assistance.
William Durham, then 23 years old, was detained for marijuana possession. He said that the situation had a negative impact on his capacity to get employment, with him passing up positions because of his lack of sobriety.
Durham is poised to become one of the first New Yorkers to be permitted to sell cannabis legally in the state, over 20 years later and at the age of 42. And he isn’t the first one with a criminal history to be given the opportunity.
The strategy used by the state is distinctive, according to Allan Gandelman, president of the New York State Cannabis Growers and Processors Association, not just in terms of who will be granted licenses but also in that social equity applicants are granted licenses first. He pointed out that in other jurisdictions, bigger businesses were granted licenses first, making it difficult for smaller social justice outlets to compete.
It’s important from a social justice perspective, but it’s even more important from a market perspective: giving people access to the market first is huge.
Nicholas Koury, who was also chosen for one of the first licenses for a dispensary in the state, said he applied because he has always had a passion for marijuana.
Koury said he wants his future shop to establish a secure environment and an environment that helps alter the perception of marijuana from a negative to a positive. Koury was arrested in 2017 for carrying marijuana in his car.
New York also model reserves an additional 25 of its first dispensary licenses for NGOs that assist persons who have been jailed in the past. But such licensees are not qualified to receive funding from the social equity fund.
