It's well known that the State of New York’s Adult-use Cannabis has been off to a rocky start. First legalized in the first half of 2021, the State wasn’t able to begin a licensing until late Fall of 2022, when it allowed hemp cultivators and processors to cultivate or process high THC cannabis. However, that licensing process was largely restricted to proving the applicant held a previous hemp license. It wasn’t until the Conditional Adult-Use Retail Dispensary (CAURD) licensing period that a true, evaluative licensing process was launched by the State’s Office of Cannabis Management (OCM). Unfortunately, that program has had a lot of problems. The first major issue had to do with who could receive a CAURD license. The OCM had created a new category of Social Equity applicants called “Justice Impacted”, who were individuals who had both been convicted of a cannabis related offense (with no other disqualifying convictions) and who had successfully run a profitable business. However, this category of social equity applicant was not in the State’s law, and so social equity qualified applicants (under the law) who were excluded from the CAURD round filed a lawsuit for exclusion. This resulted in an injunction in August of 2023 that halted the program for months. As the State’s licensing process for all applicants began, many CAURD applicants were left in limbo, having to pursue both avenues in order to guarantee their dream, and investment, in a licensed cannabis dispensary did not die. However, when the OCM was able to settle the CUARD lawsuit, those same CAURD applicants then had to choose between their applications, writing off the added expenses they had been forced to undertake in order to apply in both rounds.

To add more fuel to the fire, those applicants who were able to get through found that the promised DASNY Social Equity Fund that was supposed to offer low interest loans to newly licensed CAURD businesses was left largely unfunded. So, while the OCM has been able to get CAURD licensees licensed to open their dispensaries, those licensees have suffered massively from the delay, with many losing leases and hundreds of thousands of dollars in the interim. The State has since come to terms with its missteps and has been working for most of 2024 to correct the course.

Last month, the NY Cannabis Control Board (CCB) signed off on several policy changes aimed at streamlining the processing of existing applications and easing location restrictions. Among these was a $5 million grant program for CAURD businesses that will offer up to $30,000 per CAURD licensees to support businesses with rent, renovations, and security costs. That program should go a long way to helping CAURD applicants recover from the resources many of them exhausted in 2023. Among the highlights of this program are:

A. It is expected to launch 11/01, with CAURD applicants being able to apply at that date on a first come first served rolling basis.

B. All applicants must have an active final CAURD license in good standing to apply.

C. All applicants must have a bank account in the name that matches the license holder to apply.

D. The fund has a total of $5 million in funding, and issues grants to individual licensees of $10,0000 to $30,000. That means that the number of applicants who can receive funding is limited to roughly 200 CAURD licensees (determined by licensees EIN or SSN)!

E. Funds from the fund can only be used for the portion of the site directly connected to the licensed activities, and only directly related to the license holder operating at the location.

F. All Applicants must have an active final CAURD license in good standing to apply.

G. The Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) will track the number of applicants/grantees and their county and regional locations. This may impact later funding rounds (not yet announced).

The limited amount of funding, first come/first serve basis, and the restrictions on what the funds can be used for making this application both time sensitive and, potentially, merit based as the amount of funding will depend on showing its proposed uses meet all requirements. CAURD applicants should apply as soon as possible, making sure to get all requirements, such as banking, in order prior to November 1st. CAURD applicants should consider using a professional cannabis license writing team to assure their application is submitted quickly and without issue.

Global Go specializes in cannabis licensing and applications (99% win-rate over 350 applications), compliance automation, advanced analytics, SOPs, training, mergers and acquisitions, new product launches, technology, and best practices. Consider reaching out to Global Go for help with your grant application today!

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