Cannabis in NY: OCM provides a year in review

ALBANY,N.Y. (NEWS10)--- The Office of Cannabis Management provided a year in review by sharing an update on the cannabis industry in New York State during a Cannabis Control Board meeting.

New York State currently has 261 adult-use retail stores. OCM said it is a big increase, considering there were barely two dozen stores open at this time last year.

"To be at this point 12 months later, where we have officially got 261 stores open, means that we have essentially almost opened 2 dozen stores a month," said John Kagia, OCM's Policy Director.

The state agency also highlighted revenue. Since the beginning of 2023, total retail sales are on track to reach $1 billion dollars by the end of the year. 

"It’s a billion dollars in cannabis not being sold in the unregulated market. And roughly 10% of taxes going into state coffers, and state programs," explained Kagia. "That’s $100 million of revenue being generated to find mission critical programs for the state."

During a press interview, Felicia A.B. Reid, OCM’s acting Executive Director was asked how many stores the state could handle having. 

"One of the figures I heard is around the 2,000 number," shared Reid. "As you may know, Whitney economics released an analysis of the New York market. So, what we were glad to see is that certain numbers there cue very closely to what we see in our marketplace."

When asked if there is a goal on how many stores OCM would like to open next year, Reid responded by saying, "As many as possible. Within reason and within analysis of the market."