A federal appeals court on Tuesday ruled that certain criteria used to award licenses to open cannabis businesses in New York State are most likely unconstitutional, in a decision expected to ripple across the country.
New York, which legalized recreational cannabis in 2021, gives the highest priority to low-income applicants who were convicted of marijuana offenses under its past laws and have lived in neighborhoods where marijuana arrests were highest.
But in a 2-to-1 decision, judges on the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in Manhattan said that the criteria, which excluded people with federal or out-of-state marijuana convictions from receiving priority, appeared to violate constitutional doctrine barring states from favoring their own residents over people from other states.
"Congress has given New York no clear permission to enforce protectionist marijuana licensing laws," Judge Dennis Jacobs wrote in the majority opinion. He added, "New York's prioritization of applicants with convictions under New York law is a protectionist measure that cannot stand."
Read more at The New York Times
