The Marijuana Herald – Marijuana news and information
New York’s Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) has ordered 152 licensed marijuana dispensaries to relocate after a review found the state agency had miscalculated the proximity of those businesses to schools and churches.
The abrupt shift impacts nearly 35% of all licensed dispensaries statewide and includes 60 that are already operational.
The directive was announced in an internal agency email from Felicia A.B. Reid, the acting director of the OCM, which was shared with The Marijuana Herald. In the e-mail, Reid described the decision as “difficult, but necessary”. Of the 152 dispensaries affected, a majority are located in New York City. Nearly 90% of the impacted businesses were licensed under social equity and justice-involved programs.
State regulations require marijuana dispensaries to be at least 500 feet away from a school. Until now, the Office of Cannabis Management measured that distance from the school’s entrance on the same street. According to Acting Director Felicia A.B. Reid, the law instead mandates that the distance be measured from the edge of the school’s property line—prompting the agency’s abrupt policy shift…