On Wednesday, August 24, 2022, the Office of Cannabis Management (“OCM”) announced the number of Conditional Adult-Use Retail Dispensary (“CAURD”) licenses that will be available in each region of the state. OCM plans to award up to 150 CAURD licenses to for-profit businesses throughout the state. Seventy, or just under one-half, of those licenses will be issued to licensees in the five boroughs of New York City. Another 20 have been reserved for Long Island. The remaining 60 are set to be divided among the eight Upstate regions.
The regional distribution announced by OCM is as follows:
| Region | Maximum Number of CAURD Licenses |
| Brooklyn | 19 |
| Capital Region | 7 |
| Central New York | 7 |
| Finger Lakes | 9 |
| Long Island | 20 |
| Manhattan | 22 |
| Mid-Hudson | 17 |
| Mohawk Valley | 2 |
| North Country | 4 |
| Queens | 16 |
| Southern Tier | 3 |
| Staten Island | 3 |
| The Bronx | 10 |
| Western New York | 11 |
| Total | 150 |
In addition to the 150 licenses issued to for-profit businesses, up to an additional 25 licenses may be issued to qualifying not-for-profit organizations.
As we previously mentioned, applications for CAURD licensing will be available on Thursday, August 25, 2022, and will remain available until Monday, September 26, 2022. The application fee is $2,000 and is non-refundable.
If you have any questions regarding this LEGALcurrents, please do not hesitate to contact any member of the firm’s Cannabis Law practice group at 585.232.6500 or 716.853.1616.