State cannabis regulators have yet to decide how they will handle the awarding of up to 20 cannabis retail licenses to applicants chosen by lottery as early as May.
The state had planned to award 24 licenses but reduced the number based on the distribution of applicants among the state's six geographic zones. A total of 98 applications were submitted by the Rhode Island Cannabis Control Commission's Dec. 29, 2025, deadline. One has since withdrawn, Rhode Island Cannabis Administrator Michelle Reddish told the commission at its monthly meeting Friday.
Commission staff are still vetting the qualifications of applicants before they are put into the final lottery that will award their retail licenses. A breakdown of the applicants available on the commission's website shows over half — 56 — sought general retail licenses. Another 19 were worker cooperatives while the remaining 23 were for social equity applicants, or those adversely affected by the war on drugs.
The state's regulations adopted last year set a maximum of four retailers per zone, with at least one license designated for a social equity applicant, and one for a worker-owned cooperative. Nearly a third of all retail license applications — 31— were in Zone 6, which includes Pawtucket, East Providence, along with all of Bristol and Newport counties.
Read more at Rhode Island Current
