An Overview Licensing Unit
The Office of Cannabis Management's (OCM) adult-use cannabis market was established upon the passage of the Cannabis Law in March 2021. The Cannabis Law legalized cannabis for adults 21 years of age or older, but cannabis legalization represents more than a shift in New York’s drug policies — it introduces a path forward for New York, to bring economic opportunities to every corner of the State, to build an equitable cannabis industry, and to set a new example of how this market can be used as a tool to improve our communities when entrepreneurs are equipped with adequate resources and education.
OCM is charged with overseeing the adult-use, medical, and cannabinoid hemp industries in New York, as well as establishing the regulations governing how and when a person or business may apply for and receive a license. With a goal of awarding 50% of all licenses to Social and Economic Equity (SEE) applicants, OCM will actively promote the participation of individuals from communities disproportionately impacted by cannabis prohibition policies, minority and women owned businesses, distressed farmers, and service-disabled veterans.
Adult-Use License Renewal Submit Your Renewal Application Online
The Adult-Use Renewal Application is now available. All licensees must submit their renewal through the online intake form below. Email submissions will not be accepted. Renewal applications must be submitted no fewer than 60 days and no more than 120 days before your license expiration date. Submitting outside of this window may result in delays or non-renewal.
Please Note: Submitting a renewal application does not guarantee approval. All applications are subject to Cannabis Control Board (CCB) review and approval. Under SAPA §401(2), licensees who submit a timely and complete renewal may continue operating while their application is under review.
The renewal application includes:
- Community Impact Plan details, including goals and intended impact.
- Proof of a valid Labor Peace Agreement.
- Employee demographic, wage, and benefit information.
- If applicable, proof of a submitted Notice to Municipality form.
- Submission of the renewal application and required license fee. The Office will provide payment instructions after your application is received.
- Requests to update license details (e.g., tier, authorizations, location) must be made through the Amendment Survey.
If you have any questions, please reach out to [email protected]. All communications must include your license number and legal entity name.
Who Does What? Compliance Unit vs. Licensing Unit
Compliance
The Compliance Unit manages licensee-related matters such as inspections, quarantines, and recalls. It also answers questions about interpreting regulations and provides guidance on operational issues—like what types of products can be produced, which ingredients may be used, and training required for employees of a licensee.
Licensing
The Licensing Unit reviews and provides updates on license applications, including new applications, amendments, and renewals. It also addresses ownership questions, requests to cease licensed activity, and license surrenders. Stay on this page to learn more.
Adult-Use Application Queues New FAQs Now Available on Application Queues
Learn how the Office assigned applications to queues and get the latest updates on each queue’s status. This FAQ was created to bring clarity and transparency to the process.
The Adult-Use December Application Queues Now Available
The queues below were created using a random sequence process for all cultivator, processor, distributor, retail dispensary and microbusiness applicants that applied in the application window ending on December 18, 2023, at 5:00PM and were not considered part of the November Queue.
The queues provide the Office with the order in which to review Adult-Use applications. The random queuing process was audited by an independent third-party to ensure it was random and unbiased.
Here's What You Need to Know:
- The queues' order solely determines the order in which the Office will begin the review of each application.
- The queues' order does not indicate the order in which licenses will be issued. Each application is different, and the length of the review time will vary from application to application.
- Inclusion on a queue is not a guarantee of licensure and is not an indication of sufficient eligibility for a license. The Office will be reviewing applications on the queues for all aspects of license eligibility including, violations of ownership requirements and participation in illicit market activity during application review.
- Please closely monitor your email inbox to ensure you are receiving and responding to any messages from the Office regarding your application.
Public Convenience and Advantage (PCA) Guidance When a PCA Request Is Required for Retail Dispensary Locations
Retail dispensary distance requirements are established in Part 119 of 9 NYCRR and vary based on municipal population size. Public Convenience and Advantage (PCA) requests apply only to distance requirements between retail dispensaries and are reviewed by the Cannabis Control Board as part of a final determination on an adult-use license or amendment.
Applications Accepted Year-Round Adult-Use Processor Type 3 Licenses
Adult-Use Processor Type 3 – Branding License Application
The branding license authorizes the brand licensee to enter into white label agreements with duly licensed cannabis processors in NYS who will manufacture the brand’s cannabis products. This license type DOES NOT authorize any cannabis plant touching activity or require a licensed premises in New York State.
What does this license do?
The cannabis regulations state a processor may only enter into a branding or white labeling agreement with its True Parties of Interest “TPI”, or another authorized licensee.
The Processor Type-3 Branding license allows cannabis brands to pursue white-labeling agreements with duly licensed processors without becoming a TPI in another processor.
The branding license type also captures ownership and TPI information for cannabis brands. With this disclosure, the Office can better regulate cannabis brand activity and the Cannabis Brand licensee must adhere to all regulations pertaining to undue influence and control, ownership limits and tier violations.
Adult-Use Processor Type 3 – Flower License Application
This license authorizes eligible cultivators to package, label, market, and sell their own cannabis flower products under their own brand or another New York licensed third-party brand. This license type DOES NOT authorize extraction or infusion activities.
What does this license do?
- Authorizes Adult-Use Cultivators (or Conditional Cultivators transitioning to Adult-Use Cultivators) to package, label, and brand their own cannabis flower products.
Permits the sale of whole flower, non-infused pre-rolls, and kief pressed into pucks using a punch press.
Does not authorize solvent or solventless extraction, including products such as bubble hash or rosin.
Does not authorize the infusion of cannabis extract into pre-rolls or other products, including filling vaporizers.
Provisional License Extensions Approved All provisional CAURD and adult-use licenses extended through December 31, 2026.
At the September 9, 2025 Cannabis Control Board (CCB) Meeting, the Board approved a resolution extending all provisional CAURD and adult-use licenses through December 31, 2026. This extension provides additional time for licensees to secure viable retail locations as proximity guidance continues to be clarified. This also applies to any provisional licenses issued between September 9 and December 30, 2025.
Introducing Legal Online Cannabis Activities Locator (LOCAL) Map
The LOCAL Map is your essential tool for evaluating retail locations, checking municipal opt-out statuses, and accessing critical data for cannabis licensing in New York State. With features like proximity reports and insights into active and pending licenses near your chosen location, LOCAL removes the guesswork, making it easier to meet regulatory requirements efficiently.
Need to update your license information? Adult-Use Cannabis Licensee Amendment Request Survey
This survey is to be used by Adult-Use Cannabis licensees to submit information to the Office to request an amendment to the licensee’s license record. In order for a licensee’s amendment to be considered by the Office, the request with all required information must be submitted via the Adult-Use Cannabis Licensee Amendment Request Survey.
Now Available Responsible Workforce Training for All Cannabis Employees
As part of the Office's ongoing commitment to workforce development, we are announcing the launch of the Responsible Workforce Training (RWT) program. This initiative includes two new, no-cost online courses developed in partnership with the New York State Department of Labor (NYSDOL). All persons performing activities under a licensed cannabis business, must complete mandatory Responsible Workforce Training.
PowerScore Cannabis Resource Manager
PowerScore is a state-specific platform developed by the Resource Innovation Institute (RII) for energy, waste, and water reporting in controlled environment agriculture, including cannabis. Designed for New York State cultivators, this no-cost tool helps licensees track and manage resource consumption, potentially lowering operating costs while meeting state environmental standards. All authorized cultivators are mandated to use PowerScore.
Overview Adult-Use Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP)
All adult-use cannabis products and medical-use cannabis products must be processed in accordance with Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) standards, as applicable for the type of cannabis or cannabis product being processed.
Proximity Protected Locations Map (PPLM) All Proximity Data Now Available on LOCAL Map
As of January 17, 2025, the Proximity Protected Locations for Adult-Use Retail Dispensaries & Registered Organizations Table and the Proximity Protected Locations for Adult Use Retail Dispensaries & Registered Organizations Map (PPLM) have been removed from the Open Data platform.
For an alternative source, access the Current OCM Licenses table on Open Data and explore the Legal Online Cannabis Activities Locator (LOCAL) map using the buttons below:
The PPLM was initially published as a temporary tool to help applicants to assess site viability while the LOCAL map was under development. The Current OCM Licenses table and LOCAL map now provide the same information, including details on licensed and pending dispensaries with viable locations. Additionally, LOCAL offers a proximity report feature, allowing provisionally licensed retail dispensary applicants to assess address viability when completing their applications.
More information for how an Adult-Use Provisional Licensee can submit a new location for review is in the guidance below:
CONDITIONAL LICENSEES
Existing conditional licensees can still access relevant guidance, FAQs, and resources specific to their license type using the buttons below.
AVAILABLE APPLICATIONS
The only application available at this time is for a Processor Type 3 Branding & Type 3 Flower licenses.
Please see the Processor Type 3 Branding or Type 3 Flower License tile below or visit the Adult-Use Licensing page for more information.
HOW DO I APPLY? Processor Type 3 Branding License Application
HOW MUCH DOES IT COST?
Should a license be granted, the license fee will vary based on a variety of operational factors, including canopy size, planned business activities and SEE certification.
SEE entrepreneurs will be eligible for the following benefits in order to promote access and business viability:
- SEE applicants will receive a 50% reduction on application fees and application assistance from the Office.
- Eligible SEE licensees will receive a 50% reduction in licensing fees and direct support through the Cannabis Hub and Incubator Program (CHIP).
- Eligible SEE applicants will receive license review priority for adult-use cannabis licenses.
MARKET RULES
The True Party of Interest (TPI) framework in New York State is designed to protect the integrity of the two-tier cannabis market architecture and establish procedures for monitoring and enforcing the vertical and horizontal ownership restrictions. Ensuring compliance with TPI requirements is necessary for safeguarding the independence and autonomy of New York’s adult-use cannabis licensees. All cannabis licensees have True Parties of Interest (TPI). All TPI have either a direct or indirect interest in a license, but can be further categorized as:
- A direct or indirect financial or controlling interest (DIFCI), or
- A passive investor (PI).
Whether a person with a right to receive revenue or profit and Goods and Services providers is a TPI is based on the 10%/50%/$250,000 (10/50/250) rule. This rule states that a person has a financial and controlling interest, becoming a TPI in a license if, over the course of a calendar year, they receive the right to or actual payment from a licensee exceeding the greatest of:
- 10% of the payor licensee’s gross revenues;
- 50% of the payor licensee’s net profits; or
- $250,000.
Goods and Services Agreements (Section 124.3) creates a framework for non-licensee third parties interacting in various ways with licensees. These rules establish two classes of goods and services provider: exempt (which includes arrangements licensees have with their landlords, financiers, part-time CFOs, lawyers, accountants, and other goods and services providers who do not consult on plant-touching activities), and non-exempt (which includes arrangements licensees have with third-parties consulting on the licensee’s cannabis related activities). In addition, this section dictates the way these third parties can be compensated, and how agreements that are “stacked” together will be treated by the office.
TPI HUB
The TPI Hub is a centralized location for all documents related to True Parties of Interest.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
All applicants are strongly encouraged to review the Adult-Use Cannabis Regulations and all application resources to learn more about how to obtain and operate an adult-use cannabis license in New York State. Please note that this is only the first application window for general adult-use cannabis licensing. Future application windows for licenses such as nursery, delivery, cooperative or collective, and on-site consumption are anticipated. Please email [email protected] if you have any further questions.