{"id":234195,"date":"2021-06-01T15:03:28","date_gmt":"2021-06-01T21:03:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cannabisindustrylawyer.com\/?p=233461"},"modified":"2025-06-16T01:46:44","modified_gmt":"2025-06-16T07:46:44","slug":"cannabis-business-license-in-new-york","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannabisindustrylawyer.com\/cannabis-business-license-in-new-york\/","title":{"rendered":"How to get a Cannabis Business License in New York"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-233464 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/cannabisindustrylawyer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/How-to-get-a-Cannabis-Business-License-in-New-York-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"How to get a Cannabis Business License in New York\" width=\"349\" height=\"233\" \/><\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>On late March 2021, New York legalized cannabis sales for adults over 21 years old. However, sales won\u2019t go into effect until -at least- next year, with estimates expecting the market to capture more than $1.2 billion in sales on its first year. In this sense, if you live in the Empire State, and want to become a cannabis entrepreneur, knowing how to get a cannabis license in <a href=\"https:\/\/cannabisindustrylawyer.com\/map-of-marijuana-legality-by-state\/new-york\/\">New York<\/a> is probably your top priority.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Cannabis businesses in New York State must have a cannabis license from the state to operate. The application process is rigorous, and the state has strict requirements for licensure.<\/p>\n<p>To get a cannabis business license in New York, you must first understand the licensing process and the requirements for licensure.\u00a0 The process is very complex, so a <a href=\"https:\/\/cannabisindustrylawyer.com\/new-york-cannabis-lawyer\/\">New York Cannabis Lawyer<\/a> is a key member of your team.<\/p>\n<p>The cannabis licensing process in New York is rigorous and detailed. There are several steps that you must take to apply for a cannabis license, and the state has specific requirements that you must meet. The licensing process begins with submitting an application to the state.<\/p>\n<p>This application will require detailed information about your cannabis business, including your business plan and operations plan. You must also provide information about the owners of your cannabis business and the financial backers of your operation.<\/p>\n<p>The state will also require specific documentation supporting your application. This may include background checks on all of the owners and financial backers of your cannabis business, as well as zoning and land use approvals for your business location. You may also need to provide evidence of financial stability for your cannabis business.<\/p>\n<p>If your cannabis business is approved for a license, you will be required to comply with a variety of state regulations. Some of the marijuana regulation include strict packaging and labeling requirements, bans on advertising, and restrictions on the types of cannabis products that you can sell. You must also comply with local regulations, which may be even more restrictive than state regulations.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Types of cannabis business licenses available in New York<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>According to the New York cannabis laws, there are eight different types of adult-use cannabis licenses available in New York:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/cannabisindustrylawyer.com\/new-york-cannabis-cultivation-license\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Adult-Use Cultivator License<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/cannabisindustrylawyer.com\/new-york-processor-license\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Adult-Use Processor License<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/cannabisindustrylawyer.com\/new-york-small-business-cooperative-license\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Small Business Cooperative License<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/cannabisindustrylawyer.com\/new-york-cannabis-distributor-license\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Adult-Use Distributor License<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/cannabisindustrylawyer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Adult-Use Retail Dispensary License<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/cannabisindustrylawyer.com\/new-york-cannabis-microbusiness-license\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Microbusiness License<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/cannabisindustrylawyer.com\/new-york-cannabis-delivery-license\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">New York Cannabis Delivery License<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/cannabisindustrylawyer.com\/cannabis-nursery-in-new-york\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">New York Cannabis Nursery License<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>RELATED POST: <a href=\"https:\/\/cannabisindustrylawyer.com\/marijuana-business-license-in-michigan\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" class=\"broken_link\">HOW TO GET A MARIJUANA BUSINESS LICENSE IN MICHIGAN<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>RELATED POST: <a href=\"https:\/\/cannabisindustrylawyer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">HOW TO GET A MARIJUANA BUSINESS LICENSE IN MASSACHUSETTS<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Fees for a cannabis business license in New York<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>The Cannabis Control Board is in charge of establishing the licensing fees.<\/p>\n<p>The Application Fees in New York for cannabis producers and cannabis retail dispensaries costs $210,000. However, if the cannabis application is denied, you will receive a refund of $200,000.<\/p>\n<p>The license fees in New York for a cannabis producer and <a href=\"https:\/\/cannabisindustrylawyer.com\/how-to-open-a-dispensary-in-new-york\/\">cannabis retail dispensaries<\/a> costs $200,000, and you must renew your license every two years.<\/p>\n<p>You have to have in mind that these costs are <em>only<\/em> the official fees in order to apply and maintain a license in the state. In order to prepare your team financially, you have to take into account real estate as well as operational\/day-to-day costs to factor in how much money you will need to spend to get the operation going.<\/p>\n<p>As a rule of thumb, you will probably want to budget for at least double these fees, to cover the entire operation.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>How to get a cannabis business license in New York?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>If you want to check specific requirements so far established by Bill S854, you\u2019d probably want to check out our \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/cannabisindustrylawyer.com\/\">New York Cannabis License Application<\/a>\u201d post. There are also specific requirements the applicant needs to comply with depending on the desired type of license.<\/p>\n<p>In general, the Cannabis Control Board must develop regulations determining whether an applicant should be granted a license, basing those regulations on specific criteria, mostly regarding the applicant\u2019s background information and capacity to carry the operation.<\/p>\n<p>In this sense the applicants will be required to disclose the following:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Information about their identity (including racial and ethnic diversity)<\/li>\n<li>Ownership and investment information<\/li>\n<li>Evidence of good moral character<\/li>\n<li>Financial statements<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Also, the applicants will need to maintain a labor peace agreement with a bona fide labor organization.<\/p>\n<p>There are also some basic limitations established in S854:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>No license of\u00a0 any\u00a0 kind may\u00a0 be\u00a0 issued to a person under the age of twenty-one years, nor shall any licensee employ anyone under the age of twenty-one years.<\/li>\n<li>No licensee can sell, deliver, or give away or cause or permit or procure to be sold, delivered or given away\u00a0 any\u00a0 cannabis\u00a0 or\u00a0 cannabis\u00a0 product\u00a0 to any person, actually or apparently, under the age of twenty- one years unless the person under twenty-one is also a certified patient and\u00a0 the\u00a0 licensee is appropriately licensed under article three of this chapter.<\/li>\n<li>The board, on the recommendation\u00a0 of\u00a0 the\u00a0 office\u00a0 shall\u00a0 have\u00a0 the authority\u00a0 to\u00a0 limit,\u00a0 by\u00a0 canopy,\u00a0 plant count, square footage or other means, the amount of cannabis allowed to be grown, processed,\u00a0 distributed or sold by a licensee.<\/li>\n<li>All\u00a0 licenses expire two years after the date of issue.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>In order to obtain a cannabis business license in New York, you should also prepare a <a href=\"https:\/\/cannabisindustrylawyer.com\/cannabis-business-plan\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">cannabis business plan<\/a>. That business plan should include the following items:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Executive Summary<\/li>\n<li>Company Description<\/li>\n<li>Market Analysis<\/li>\n<li>Competitive Analysis<\/li>\n<li>Cannabis Management &amp; Operations<\/li>\n<li>Marketing and Sales<\/li>\n<li>Financial Summary<\/li>\n<li>New York-Specific Requirements<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>A cannabis business plan is vital, as it is the blueprint to your cannabis business.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>What licenses can you apply for simultaneously?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>According to S854, you will need to apply for a separate license if you are planning on operating on different facilities. This means, you only get a license per facility. However, obtaining some licenses prohibits you to apply for other types of licenses simultaneously:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/cannabisindustrylawyer.com\/new-york-cannabis-cultivation-license\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Adult-Use Cultivator License<\/a>:<\/strong> May not obtain a license to distribute<\/li>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/cannabisindustrylawyer.com\/new-york-processor-license\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Adult-Use Processor License<\/a>:<\/strong> May not obtain a license to distribute<\/li>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/cannabisindustrylawyer.com\/new-york-cannabis-distributor-license\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Adult-Use Distributor License<\/a>:<\/strong> May not also hold cannabis dispensaries licenses or have a direct or indirect interest in a retail dispensary.<\/li>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/cannabisindustrylawyer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Adult-Use Retail Dispensary License<\/a>: <\/strong>May not also hold an adult-use cultivation, processor, microbusiness, cooperative, or distributor license.<\/li>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/cannabisindustrylawyer.com\/new-york-cannabis-microbusiness-license\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Microbusiness License<\/a>: <\/strong>May not hold an interest in any other license.<\/li>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/cannabisindustrylawyer.com\/new-york-cannabis-delivery-license\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Delivery License<\/a>:<\/strong> May not hold a financial or controlling interest in more than one delivery license.<\/li>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/cannabisindustrylawyer.com\/new-york-small-business-cooperative-license\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Small Business Adult-Use Cooperative License<\/a>: <\/strong>May not hold retail dispensaries license or have a direct or indirect interest in a retail dispensary.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Adult-Use On-Site Consumption License: <\/strong>May not hold an adult-use retail dispensary, cultivation, processor, microbusiness, cooperative or distributor license. Also, a person may only have direct or indirect interest in three adult-use on-site consumption licenses.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-239757\" src=\"https:\/\/cannabisindustrylawyer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Cannabis-Business-License-in-New-York-300x300.webp\" alt=\"Cannabis Business License in New York\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" data-wp-pid=\"239757\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cannabisindustrylawyer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Cannabis-Business-License-in-New-York-300x300.webp 300w, https:\/\/cannabisindustrylawyer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Cannabis-Business-License-in-New-York-150x150.webp 150w, https:\/\/cannabisindustrylawyer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Cannabis-Business-License-in-New-York.webp 720w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>New York State has some of the most rigorous cannabis business licensing requirements in the country. In order to get a cannabis business license in New York, you must first understand the licensing process and the requirements for licensure.<\/p>\n<p>If you want more information regarding what could you do in order to stay compliant with the cannabis industry in New York, don\u2019t hesitate to\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/cannabisindustrylawyer.com\/contact\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">contact us<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>If you want to be updated on the current state of Cannabis legalization, you should check out our\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/cannabisindustrylawyer.com\/map-of-marijuana-legality-by-state\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">map of marijuana legality by state<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>RELATED POST: <a href=\"https:\/\/cannabisindustrylawyer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">HOW TO GET A CANNABIS BUSINESS LICENSE IN CALIFORNIA<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>RELATED POST: <a href=\"https:\/\/cannabisindustrylawyer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">VIRGINIA SOCIAL EQUITY CANNABIS LICENSE<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On late March 2021, New York legalized cannabis sales for adults over 21 years old. However, sales won\u2019t go into effect until -at least- next year, with estimates expecting the market to capture more than $1.2 billion in sales on its first year. In this sense, if you live in the Empire State, and want [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":238734,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_10159899886659716_192280154726328":"","linkedin_KxGK1cpoyu_18867983":"","linkedin_KxGK1cpoyu_18867996":"","facebook_10159899886659716_101009339946101":"","gmb_107014840478386198019_accounts\/107014840478386198019\/locations\/13663623334228469609":"","gmb_107014840478386198019_accounts\/107014840478386198019\/locations\/13578439455962341608":"","gmb_107014840478386198019_accounts\/107014840478386198019\/locations\/2216853526574478760":"","gmb_107014840478386198019_accounts\/107014840478386198019\/locations\/11095239898183912131":"","gmb_107014840478386198019_accounts\/107014840478386198019\/locations\/9468418315235281460":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[1482,1294],"tags":[1480,1481,1299],"class_list":["post-234195","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-new-york","category-new-york-cannabis-license","tag-cannabis-business-license-in-new-york","tag-how-to-get-a-cannabis-business-license-in-new-york","tag-new-york-cannabis-legalization"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabisindustrylawyer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/234195","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabisindustrylawyer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabisindustrylawyer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabisindustrylawyer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabisindustrylawyer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=234195"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cannabisindustrylawyer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/234195\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabisindustrylawyer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/238734"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabisindustrylawyer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=234195"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabisindustrylawyer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=234195"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabisindustrylawyer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=234195"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}