Twelve cannabis dispensaries in New York have sued the state Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) claiming that a sudden rule change threatens their livelihoods and undermines the state’s equity-focused cannabis program.
The lawsuit, filed in Albany Supreme Court, challenges the OCM’s revised interpretation of a state law requiring dispensaries to operate at least 500 feet from schools. Since 2022, regulators calculated that distance from a school’s entrance.
But beginning in July, the agency shifted its measurement point to a school’s property line, creating widespread compliance issues…