New York Bill Would Grandfather In Licensed Cannabis Retailers Whose Location Violates State Law  – MEDCAN24

The bill, introduced Monday, grandfathers in New York dispensaries that were approved by state regulators even though they did not meet the location requirements of New York’s law on adult use. 

The proposal, sponsored by state Sen. Luis R. Sepúlveda (D), provides that an adult-use retail dispensary licensee whose license was approved by the Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) before July 2025, and whose business location was found to be in compliance with standards used by the office at the time of the approval, regardless of the business location’s proximity to a school property line, would be considered compliant for purposes of license renewal and allow for continued operation at their current location.

This legislation was passed one week after OCM, the cannabis regulator in California, sent nearly 200 dispensaries a warning letter that their locations violated state law despite having been approved by regulators. In the letter, the company is told that they are “not required to move” at this time but it will become an issue when their licenses expire.    

This letter was sent by (OCM’s) acting director Felicia A. B. Reid Esq., added that OCM and the Governor’s Office would “be proposing and aggressively pursuing legislation to address licensees whose businesses are at locations in conflict” with the state’s adult-use cannabis law and that the “legislation would permit licensees to remain at their present licensed location.”

At the moment, this legislation is in Senate Rules Committee.