Court Ruling Opens the Door for Dispensaries in Towns, Cities that Have Not Banned Sale
By Dan Murphy
The slow rollout of legal marijuana dispensaries in New York State has also included NO legal marijuana dispensaries in Westchester County. That is because of a lawsuit filed against the NYS Cannabis law, which resulted in a Federal Judge issuing a temporary restraining order from any dispensaries opening in Westchester and the Hudson Valley.
But last week, a Federal Appeals Court lifted the ban on dispensaries in Westchester, and with the NYS Cannabis Control Board set to meet on Monday, April 3, that meeting could be the announcement.
So far the NYS CCB has issued 66 license, but less than ten have opened. One of the requirements to receive a Conditional Adult Use Retail Dispensary program (CAURD) in NY is that owners of the pot business must have been convicted of a cannabis-related offense before legalization, or have a parent or spouse who was convicted.
The NYS CCB originally had 17 of its CUARD licenses set aside for the Mid-Hudson region which includes Westchester. Now they have doubled the CAURD licenses available, and 34 are now reserved for Mid-Hudson.
“I am pleased with the courts decision,” said Governor Kathy Hochul. “For the first time, New Yorkers in nearly every region of the state will have access to safer, high-quality, adult-use cannabis products.”
27 Westchester communities have already banned the sale of Marijuana. So Ardsley, Bronxville, Eastchester, Elmsford, Irvington, Larchmont, Lewisboro, Mamaroneck Town, Mamaroneck Village, Mount Kisco, Mount Pleasant, New Castle, North Castle, North Salem, Pelham Manor, Pleasantville, Port Chester, Rye City, Rye Brook, Somers, Tuckahoe, Yorktown and Harrison, and Ardsley, Elmsford, Dobbs Ferry and Irvington will not have a dispensary or cafe.
Four Westchester Cities, Mount Vernon, New Rochelle, White Plains and Yonkers, and the Town of Pound Ridge and the Village of Sleepy Hollow will allow marijuana sales. Look for an award by the NYS CCB on Monday for a license to go to a business in one or more of those locales.