STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — The public can hear details about the planned opening of a legal weed dispensary on the South Shore during a Community Board 3 hearing on Thursday, March 23.
Three Staten Island businesses have been awarded licenses by the New York State Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) to open dispensaries, though none have opened on the borough yet.
The Island will soon have a total of six legal recreational weed dispensaries, as the state OCM recently announced a plan to double the initially approved amount, enabling additional “highly qualified individuals” to open dispensaries.
On the agenda on Thursday is the state office’s Conditional Adult-Use Retail Dispensary (CAURD), to be located at 3022 Veterans Road West, Charleston. The Board’s Community Alliance Committee will hold the in-person informational hearing at 7 p.m. in the board office, 1243 Woodrow Rd.
CAURD licenses dictate that dispensaries must be owned by equity-entrepreneurs with a prior cannabis-related criminal offense, who also have a background owning and operating a small business.
The CAURD licenses are a major part of the state’s Seeding Opportunity Initiative, which ensures the first legal adult-use retail dispensaries will be operated by individuals who have been the most impacted by the prohibition on weed.
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