As we previously wrote, the Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) announced last August that a maximum of 150 conditional adult-use retail dispensary (CAURD) licenses would be available across the state. At the Cannabis Control Board’s (CCB) most recent meeting on March 2, 2023, the OCM and CCB announced that the number of CAURD licenses available to “justice-involved” individuals would be doubled, meaning that 300 licenses will now be reserved for CAURD applicants.

According to the OCM, one of the main reasons for the expansion of the CAURD program is that, while the state intended to offer loans to CAURD licensees to help finance their operations, many of the 66 currently licensed dispensary owners have been able to provide their own funds and storefronts.

The additional 150 available CAURD licenses will be allocated proportionally across all regions, and the new number of CAURD licenses available by region is as follows:

• Brooklyn – 38
• Capital Region – 14
• Central Region – 14
• Finger Lakes Region – 18
• Long Island – 40
• Manhattan – 44
• Mid-Hudson Region – 34
• Mohawk Valley – 4
• North Country Region – 8
• Queens – 32
• Richmond – 6
• Southern Tier – 6
• The Bronx – 20
• Western New York Region – 22