A judge on the New York Appeals Court limited the preliminary injunction on the state’s plan for conditional adult-use retail dispensaries (CAURD) to just the Finger Lakes area. Variscite NY One, which is based in Michigan, filed a lawsuit that affected 63 of the 150 licenses that were going to be given to social equity applicants. The lawsuit also stopped licenses from being given in Brooklyn, Central New York, the Mid-Hudson Area, and Western New York.
Judge Gary L. Sharpe’s decision means that the state can move forward with giving out 38 licenses in Brooklyn, 14 licenses in the Central region, 34 licenses in the Mid-Hudson region, and 22 licenses in the Western region. The 18 licenses in the Finger Lakes area will stay in a state of uncertainty.
The decision doesn’t say why the judge decided to limit the original injunction from the circuit court.
So far, New York has been slow to give out licenses. This has led to a lot of shops selling cannabis without licenses in the state. Last week, Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) proposed a bill that would make it harder for illegal operators to do business by giving them fines of up to $10,000 per day.
