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Conditional Adult-Use Retail Dispensary

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Conditional Adult-Use Retail Dispensary

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Overview

CAURD licensees are the first retail dispensaries to open for legal adult-use cannabis sales in New York State, establishing businesses owned by justice-involved individuals at the bedrock of New York’s adult-use cannabis market. CAURD licensees are positioned to make New York’s first legal cannabis sales before the end of 2022, speeding the delivery of investments into communities across New York State that were impacted by the disproportionate enforcement of cannabis prohibition.

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Notification to Municipalities

Pursuant to Section 76 of the Cannabis Law, not less than thirty days nor more than two hundred seventy days before filing an application for licensure as an adult-use retail dispensary or registered organization adult-use cultivator processor distributor retail dispensary or an on-site consumption licensee, an applicant shall notify the municipality in which the premises is located of such applicant's intent to file such an application.

 

For more information and to begin the notification to municipalities process, please click the button below.

More Information

Fingerprinting

As an additional requirement for licensure, certain TPI must complete a fingerprint-based background check. Please see the directions posted at.

 

The TPI who must be fingerprinted include:

  • The applicant or licensee’s sole proprietor, partner (whether limited or general), member, manager, president, vice president, secretary, treasurer, officer, board member, trustee, director, or any person with an equivalent title to each of the foregoing, and their spouse;
  • A stockholder of the applicant or licensee, other than a person owning 5% or less in the aggregate of a publicly traded company, and their spouse;
  • Each person that makes up the ownership structure of each level of ownership for an applicant or licensee that has a multilevel ownership structure, and their spouse.

A fingerprint-based background check for each of these TPI must be received by the Office before a CAURD license can be awarded. Please initiate the fingerprinting process for these TPI as soon as possible to expedite your application’s processing.

 

Commercial Fingerprinting Procedures

True Parties of Interest

The New York State Cannabis Law sets out restrictions for individuals and entities with interests in businesses licensed by the Office of Cannabis Management (Office). The Cannabis Law creates a two-tier market structure for the Adult-Use Cannabis Program, whereby individuals or entities having any direct or indirect interest in a licensee authorized on the supply tier (cultivation, processing, distribution) are prohibited from holding any direct or indirect interest in a licensee on the retail tier (retail dispensary, on-site consumption, delivery), and vice versa. The Cannabis Law also includes prohibitions for individuals or entities with a direct or indirect interest in a registered organization or laboratory testing permit holder.  

 

In contrast to the prohibition on holding any direct or indirect interest in licensed entities across the two tiers, the Cannabis Law allows for an individual or entity to have an interest in multiple licenses within the same tier, albeit with several significant restrictions which are designed to increase access, competition, and diversity of business ownership in the industry.  The two-tier market structure fulfills the Cannabis Law’s intent preventing conflicts of interest, undue influence, and market concentration from taking root in the New York cannabis industry, and allows the New York cannabis market to develop around strong, independent licensing tiers, instead of the centralization and consolidation that has created barriers to entry in other legal markets for small and medium sized entrepreneurs, legacy operators, and other individuals and communities lacking access to capital.

 

The Office of Cannabis Management is tasked by the Cannabis Law to ensure compliance with the restrictions outlined above. It does so by requiring the disclosure of individuals and entities having certain interests in licensees. These disclosures are required when applicants apply for a license and when existing licensees make changes to their license.

 

More information on TPI can be found here

Social Equity Fund

Please use the button below to go to DASNY's (Dormitory Authority of the State of New York) website to learn more about the Social Equity Servicing Corporation, or CAURD "Social Equity Fund".

 

more information

Resources

  •  

    CCB Resolution: CAURD Application

    No. 2022-21: Resolution approving a certain application form for a Conditional Adult-Use Retail Dispensary (CAURD) license and directing that a new application period for CAURD licenses open and close on dates to be established by the Office
     

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Guidance and FAQs

  •  

    CAURD FAQ

    Frequently Asked Questions about the Conditional Adult-use Retail Dispensary (CAURD) licenses
     

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  •  

    CAURD Nonprofit FAQ

    Frequently Asked Questions about the nonprofit eligibility criteria for the Conditional Adult-use Retail Dispensary (CAURD) program
     

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