FILE – Dried hemp plants are sorted and trimmed at Hepworth Farms in Milton, N.Y., Monday, April 12, 2021. New York’s first 100 to 200 retail cannabis licenses will be solely for people with marijuana-related convictions or their immediate family, state officials said Wednesday, March 9, 2022, in an effort to redress the inequities of a system that has locked up people of color for marijuana offenses at disproportionate rates.
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — The first licenses to sell recreational marijuana in New York will go to people who were casualties of the war on drugs, state officials said Wednesday.
People with marijuana-related convictions will get dibs on the first 100 to 200 retail cannabis licenses awarded by the state in an effort to redress the inequities of a justice system that locked up a disproportionate number of people of color for drug crimes.
Some licenses will go to nonprofits or businesses who have a leader linked to a marijuana conviction. Priority also will be given to people with a parent, legal guardian, child or spouse convicted of a marijuana-related offense.
Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, is set to announce the planned regulations for “social equity” applicants Thursday.
The regulations will get the green light from the state cannabis control board later that day, said Office of Cannabis Management spokesperson Freeman Klopott.
Convictions must have occurred before March 31, 2021, when the state’s legalization bill was signed by former Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
The plans were first reported by The New York Times. The regulations were posted on the state’s website Wednesday.
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