Cannabis News
New York Officials Tout $2.5 Billion In Marijuana Sales, Expansion Of Licensed Businesses And More Since Adult-Use Legalization
New York officials have released a series of reports that provide a year-end status update on the state’s medical and adult marijuana markets: sales records, state coffers revenue, license approvals, equity initiatives and more.
All told, retail cannabis sales in New York have topped $2.5 billion since recreational legalization was passed, including $1.6 billion generated since November of last year alone. In addition, licensed showrooms almost doubled from 261 in 2024 to 556 in 2025..
The Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) said the state “continues to exceed” equity goals, particularly with 55 percent of adult use licenses held by Social and Economic Equity (SEE) businesses. Of these, 50 percent are minorities and 47 percent are women.
The reports also touch on enforcement action to mitigate the illegal market. And last year, OCM said it “conducted 2,017 enforcement actions that resulted in the seizure of more than $20 million worth of illegal cannabis products.”
“New York’s cannabis framework was designed to combine strong regulation with meaningful choice, and this year’s Annual Report demonstrates continued progress toward that goal,” said Jessica Garcia, Chair of the Cannabis Control Board (CCB), in a press release. “As the legal market expands, we continue to build an inclusive industry and ensure the benefits of legalization are shared broadly.”
“The launch of initiatives like Community Reinvestment Grants and the CAURD Grant Fund marks a critical step in returning resources to communities disproportionately impacted by the ban while maintaining safeguards that protect consumers and support compliant businesses,” he said.
The OCM annual report also states that Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) signed legislation expanding the state’s medical cannabis program improving patient access and “updating the program framework to better meet the needs of patients across the state.”
The legislation signed by the governor grants reciprocity to out-of-state residents, streamlines the patient certification process and allows adults 18 and older to grow their own cannabis plants for therapeutic use.
“Looking forward, we remain committed to fulfilling MRTA’s vision through licensing, regulatory reform and the support of social equity applicants,” Garcia said in the report. “We have new types of licenses to issue that will provide additional economic opportunities for New Yorkers.”
“We must improve patient access to the medical program and maintain our commitment to work on this in 2026. We will work with OCM to continue to strengthen our enforcement efforts against the illicit market,” he said. “Finally, we invest in building trust with our stakeholders and the public and aim to strengthen our communications and public engagement efforts, especially as they inform our decision-making process.”
Officials too he stated The state has taken in nearly $341 million in marijuana taxes from medical and adult-use sales from April 1, 2023, to November 30, 2025.
“Sales continue to be concentrated in a limited number of high-performing locations,” he says. “On November 30, 2025, the top 10 stores account for 29 percent of statewide sales, the top 25 for 43 percent and the top 50 for nearly 61 percent. The top 50 percent of all operating stores generate about 80 percent of total sales, reflecting advantages of location, brand presence and operational scale.”
Notably, the report bolsters advocates’ argument that regulating, rather than criminalizing, marijuana sales can deter youth use, despite prohibitionist arguments to the contrary. In fact, the percentage of New York high school students who reported using cannabis in the past month dropped from 20 percent in 2013 (before legalization) to 12.5 percent in 2023.
“This Annual Report reflects the market that New Yorkers have built together over the past year. We’ve expanded access to regulated and tested cannabis products, strengthened consumer protections, and continued to advance an equity-focused market framework,” said Susan Filburn, OCM’s executive director, in a press release.
“Exceeding $2.5 billion in adult-use sales is an important milestone, and looking forward to this growth remains responsible, transparent and grounded in public health and safety, while continuing to provide opportunity and reinvestment in the communities most affected by prohibition,” he said. he said.
“OCM remains committed to responsible growth, transparent regulation, and economic opportunity for all New Yorkers. In 2026, OCM will focus on accelerating licensing and market access for equity entrepreneurs, strengthening compliance and enforcement efforts statewide, and expanding consumer education to promote safer cannabis use and confidence in the regulated marketplace, and to strengthen a safer regulated marketplace.”
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Meanwhile, given the confusion in the market about temporary license terms, the CCB said it will extend the renewal period for adult conditional use to December 31, 2026.
“This extension provides more time for licensees to secure viable locations and obtain full licensure,” OCM said. “It will also apply to temporary licenses issued between September 9, 2025 and December 30, 2025, ensuring clarity and consistency for all temporary licensees.”
Part of the uncertainty surrounding provisional licensees a the recently identified zoning issue affects more than 100 cannabis businesses Those located too close to public schools or places of worship than permitted by applicable statute. Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) said she will push the legislature to change the state’s marijuana law to address the problem.
Additionally, both chambers of the New York legislature passed the legislation last year extend the deadline for electronic tax returns for marijuana companiessending the proposal near the governor’s desk.
If signed into law, the measure would give cannabis manufacturers and distributors an extra 30 days to file their tax returns after the end of each quarterly tax year. Currently, companies have 20 days to submit documents, and the legislation would extend it to 50 days.
In July, New York officials announced First round of grants for $5 million program to support retail marijuana businesses for justice-involved people cover startup costs.
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Hoogendoorn has received the Bronze Medal in the first evaluation by EcoVadis. This recognition places the company in the top 35% of all organizations worldwide assessed for sustainability. Among companies evaluated in the last 12 months, Hoogendoorn ranks in the top 18%.
EcoVadis is globally recognized for its sustainability assessments, evaluating organizations on four main themes: environment, labor and human rights, ethics and sustainable purchasing. The Bronze rating confirms that Hoogendoorn has a strong and well-structured sustainability management system that focuses on transparency and responsible business practices throughout the value chain.
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The scorecard provides valuable information to guide further improvement and outlines the next steps to achieving a Silver rating. This helps Hoogendoorn to continue to strengthen and advance its sustainability ambitions.
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A Florida bill to significantly reduce the fee for military veterans to obtain medical marijuana registry identification cards has cleared another legislative committee.
The House Health and Human Services Committee approved the measure by Reps. Susan Valdés (R) and Michelle Salzman (R) on a 22-0 vote Tuesday. This comes after the legislation cleared two other House panels and Senate legislation to reduce the cost of cannabis for veterans is also advancing.
If enacted into law, HB 887 would require honorably discharged veterans to pay $15 to obtain a medical cannabis card, down from the current $75 rate for most eligible patients.
The $15 charge will also apply to replacement cards as well as annual renewals.
To receive the reduced fee, veterans must provide the state Department of Health (DOH) with a copy of the discharge form, a US Veterans Affairs (VA) identification card, or a Florida driver’s license with a “veteran designation.”
The law will come into effect on July 1 of this year.
“Medical cannabis has shown promise in alleviating symptoms commonly experienced by our military veterans, such as managing chronic pain, easing the effects of PTSD, improving sleep, and most importantly reducing opioid addiction,” Valdés said before the final committee vote. “This bill will go a long way in reducing the financial barriers veterans face when getting a card.”
According to A invoice study, the reform “would have an unspecified negative fiscal impact on the DOH.” While there are currently 931,000 registered medical marijuana patients in Florida, “the number of veterans with an active medical marijuana use registry identification card is unknown” and thus “the amount of revenue reduction is unknown.”
That said, the analysis says the policy change “would have a positive fiscal impact on veterans who will see a $60 reduction in the cost of ID cards under the bill.”
Earlier this month, the Senate Health Policy Committee advanced a bill by Sen. Alexis Calatayud that would reduce medical cannabis registration fees for veterans to $15 and implement other reforms to expand access to medical marijuana.
Under that amended proposal, a physician would recommend a 70-day supply limit for cannabis, or a 35-day supply limit for marijuana smoking products for 10 supply limits. Under current law, they can recommend up to three 70-day supply limits for non-smoking cannabis and six 35-day supply limits for smoking marijuana.
The SB 1032 bill would also require doctors to evaluate patients to qualify for medical marijuana every 52 weeks, rather than the legal requirement of evaluations every 30 weeks.
Here’s an overview of some of the pending Florida marijuana bills:
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It’s Marijuana Time tracking hundreds of cannabis, psychedelic and drug policy bills in state legislatures and Congress this year. Patreon supporters by pledging at least $25/month, you’ll get access to our interactive maps, charts, and audio calendars so you never miss a development.
Learn more about our marijuana bill tracking and become a Patreon supporter to gain access
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Meanwhile, a The Florida campaign seeking to put marijuana legalization on the ballot has another complication As the status of the 2026 signature drive remains in dispute. According to a new electoral law, the hundreds of thousands of activist signatures already collected this year will not be carried over to the 2028 cycle.
Smart & Safe Florida recently shipped An appeal of the annulment of about 71,000 signatures to the state Supreme Court For the 2026 order, for example.
The courts again agreed to close a separate case involving legal review of the ballot measure From Smart & Safe Florida, he has now been given another case challenging the cancellation of the earlier mass signature.
In December, advocates filed a lawsuit in Leon County Circuit Court alleging that Secretary of State Cord Byrd (R) illegally ordered county election officials to invalidate about 42,000 signatures from so-called “inactive” voters and about 29,000 signatures collected by out-of-state petitioners.
That lawsuit came after another court upheld an earlier decision to strike with about 200,000 signatures, which the state said were invalid because the petition did not include the full text of the proposed initiative. The campaign challenged the legal interpretation, but declined to appeal the decision, confident it had collected enough signatures to settle the dispute.
Smart & Safe Florida has generally disputed the secretary of state’s signature count, confirming that the campaign has submitted more than 1.4 million petitions, hundreds of thousands more than the 880,062 valid signatures needed before voters.
In return for the signature, Florida’s attorney general and several businesses and anti-marijuana groups has asked the state Supreme Court to block the cannabis initiativecalling it a “fatal flaw” and unconstitutional.
The Florida Chamber of Commerce, the Florida Legal Foundation and Judge Frank Shepherd filed another joint document, stating that the parties “remain particularly vigilant about the abuse of the citizen initiative process by out-of-state interests who believe that Florida is another market and that the citizen initiative process is another means of exploiting that market.”
The Florida Chamber of Commerce has consistently opposed attempts to move forward with adult-use legalization, as well his polls have shown a majority in favor of reform.
The campaign fought several legal battles this cycle to get its initiative on the ballot.
Last month, the state attorney general’s office opened dozens of criminal investigations and subpoenaed Smart & Safe Florida and its contractors and subcontractors for records over alleged fraud related to the application effort.
Activists said in November they had collected more than a million signatures to put the cannabis measure on the ballot, but still He has sued state Supreme Court officials for delaying the certification processarguing that the review of ballot content and summary should have gone ahead several months ago when the initial signature threshold was reached. The state then he agreed to proceed with the processing.
The governor campaigned hard against an earlier version of the legalization proposal, which received a majority of voters in 2024, but was not enough to meet the 60 percent threshold needed to pass a constitutional amendment. Former Attorney General Ashley Moody (R) unsuccessfully challenged the earlier initiative in court.
Last March, however, two Democratic members of Congress representing Florida asked the federal government to investigate What they described as an “illegal diversion” of millions in state Medicaid funds Through a group with ties to DeSantis. The money was used to fight a popular ballot initiative the governor vehemently opposed that would have legalized adult marijuana.
The lawmakers’ letter alleges that a $10 million donation from a state legislative settlement was misappropriated to the Hope Florida Foundation, which later sent the money to two political nonprofits, and sent $8.5 million to the anti-Amendment 3 campaign.
The governor said last February The latest measure to legalize marijuana is in “big trouble” with the state Supreme Courthe announced that it would be blocked from going before the voters this year.
the last the initiative It was introduced to the secretary of state just months after initial versions failed in the November 2024 election, despite President Donald Trump’s endorsement.
Smart & Safe Florida expressed optimism that the revised version would be successful in 2026. The campaign — which received tens of millions of dollars from cannabis industry players in the last election cycle, notably from multi-state operator Trulieve — introduced some changes in the new version that address criticisms of the 2024 push by opponents.
For example, it now specifically states that “smoking and vaping marijuana in any public place is prohibited.” Another section states that the legislature should adopt rules governing the “time, place and public manner of consuming marijuana.”
In 2023, the governor accurately predicted this The campaign’s 2024 cannabis measure would survive a legal challenge From the state attorney general. It’s not entirely clear why he thinks this version will face a different outcome.
Although there is uncertainty about how the state’s highest court will navigate the measure, a poll released last February It showed the overwhelming support of a bipartisan voter for reform— 67% of Florida voters support legalization, including 82% of Democrats, 66% of independents and 55% of Republicans.
Max Jackson’s photo.
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A 20-acre cannabis farm near Upper Lake went up for sale last week for $599,000, according to a recent Zillow listing. The property has a 10-year occupancy permit and 43,560 square feet of permitted cultivation, for a total of 78,550 square feet of approved growing area, according to the listing. The infrastructure described in the publication includes a well, a security gate, water storage tanks, parking and a 30 x 75 meter barn.
The photos show growing houses and outdoor plants. Lux Places real estate agent Forest Nikola Elie promoted the listing on social media.
“Grow Big. Live Close. Win Fast!”, he wrote in a post on a local Facebook group. “Whether you are expanding your operation or looking for an income producing private home, this property is move in ready.”
Read more at The Mendocino Voice
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