In this episode, our panel of cannabis consultants and cannabis lawyers discuss the licensing opportunities in the cannabis industry for 2023, with a focus on the states of Florida, New York, Missouri, and New Jersey. The cannabis industry is expected to expand to 16 million adult consumers, increasing the number of licensing opportunities.

KushMart NY made history by becoming one of the first business to be awarded a highly coveted Conditional Adult-Use Retail Dispensary (CAURD) License in New York. CAURD licenses were awarded to equity applicants and non-profit organizations.

2022 was a brutal year for US cannabis companies and some cannabis investors. The leading public stocks lost 66% of their value. New Cannabis Ventures’ American Cannabis Operator Index ended the year at 14.25, 88% below its all-time high of 118.22 set a seeming lifetime ago on 4/1/19, just after the top multi-state operators (MSOs) went public in 2018.

With Missouri and Maryland voting to legalize adult-use in November 2022, the ranks of states that have approved adult-use cannabis sales swelled to 21. But those were just two 2022 developments that continued the evolution of a cannabis landscape across the U.S.

The Empire State has the third-highest number of cannabis consumers of any US state, and regulators have now shown they are serious about creating opportunity for starts-ups and limiting the market power of incumbent multi-state operators. Whether looking to enter the New York market or investing in companies that do, you need to hear the details on what will be allowed and what will not in adult-use New York.

New York Cannabis Market: Regulations Released and Licenses Awarded

The first batch of retail cannabis licenses were blocked from being issued in five regions in New York. A New York federal judge ordered the block pending the outcome of a lawsuit filed by a Michigan cannabis operator which claimed New York’s licensing selection process violates federal interstate commerce protections. The judge, Gary Sharpe issued the injunctions for the following regions:

This past Friday 10/28, the OCM quietly released its Guidance for Adult-Use Dispensaries (“Guidance”), which is a summary of the pending regulations for CAURD applicants and other adult use dispensary applicants. It is important that all CAURD applicants familiarize themselves with the information provided in the Guidance.