New York regulators reach a settlement, clearing the way for Finger Lakes marijuana retail operations

Regulators in New York announced Tuesday that the state had reached an agreement with a Michigan cannabis company, paving the way for full implementation of the Empire State’s regulated marijuana industry, specifically including the Finger Lakes region.

The five-member New York Cannabis Control Board unanimously approved the decision to settle with Michigan-based Variscite NY One, Inc., which sued the state last year after being denied a cannabis retail license.

The ensuing lawsuit resulted in a court injunction in November that prevented New York State from issuing licenses for several regions, including Brooklyn.

In March, the same federal judge overturned portions of the injunction, allowing the state to issue 99 new licenses, including to Brooklyn, Mid-Hudson and other regions where licenses were temporarily prohibited. However, the injunction remained in effect in the Finger Lakes, which is currently the only region in New York where no licenses have been issued.

But Tuesday’s vote by the Cannabis Control Board could change that.

The lawsuit was filed last year by Kenneth Gay, the owner of Variscite, who was previously convicted of a marijuana-related offense in Michigan.

New York announced last year that the first round of retail cannabis licenses would be awarded to a person previously convicted of a marijuana felony or to a family member of a person previously convicted of a marijuana felony.

But Gay’s application was denied because his conviction came in Michigan and New York regulators require licensees to have “significant” ties to the Empire State.

Tuesday’s decision by the Cannabis Control Board must now be approved by a federal judge. If so, the “injunction preventing the state from granting” would officially end [Conditional Adult-Use Retail Dispensary] According to Syracuse.com, licenses would be granted to businesses in the Finger Lakes region and would also guarantee plaintiff an adult use license once general licensing begins.

“We felt we had a strong base here; However, it is impeding CAURD licensees in this region,” said Cannabis Control Board member Reuben McDaniel, as quoted by Syracuse.com. “I’m very pleased that we’re considering this today…not because I think this lawsuit has any merit, but because our CAURD licensees also need to be in the Finger Lakes to get to work.”

The outlet noted that most “details of the settlement remain confidential pending filing and court approval later this week.”

The adult cannabis market took off in New York late last year with the opening of a store in Manhattan’s East Village.

More stores followed in Manhattan, and in March the first legal cannabis retailer opened in the borough of Queens. (It was also the first female-owned pharmacy in the state.)

After the federal judge overturned part of the injunction earlier this year, the Cannabis Control Board announced in April that it had “granted at least one.” [Conditional Adult-Use Retail Dispensary, or “CAURD”] provisional license in every region except the Finger Lakes, which remains blocked by the injunction.”

The board stated at the time that the 99 new licenses it had issued included “four for West New York, one for Central New York, five for Mid-Hudson, and three for Brooklyn, representing the first provisional licenses, issued in those regions.” following the modification of a court order last week that prevented the board from issuing them.”

“We are proud of the approval of 99 provisional CAURD licenses today. This represents a tremendous expansion of the Seeding Opportunity Initiative as we continue to build a fair market that redresses the harm caused by cannabis prohibition and its disproportionate enforcement,” Tremaine Wright, chair of the initiative, told the Cannabis Control Board in a statement at the time .