CRANSTON, R.I. (WJAR) — Local investors hoping to open a cannabis dispensary in Cranston are upset with a new Rhode Island law that forced them to start the licensing process over after investing more than $500,000 into the project.
David Rozen said he had been trying to open up a dispensary on Reservoir Avenue at the site of a former Pizza Hut in partnership with a Cranston woman who had met the criteria for a social equity license. Social equity licenses prioritize people and communities disproportionately impacted by past cannabis-related convictions.
In June, a new law was signed in Rhode Island that reworked the process for getting a social equity cannabis retail license, and some would-be licensees who had been working their way through those steps must restart the process…