CORTLAND, N.Y. — In 2021, Paul Suits Jr. and his brother registered LakeHouse Cannabis as an official business with New York State. Three years and $1 million later, they haven’t been allowed to make a single sale.
“It’s a lot of anxiety, a lot of sit and wait,” Suits Jr. said, “it’s not very sustainable.”
Suits Jr. is among hundreds of cannabis hopefuls left on the sidelines as the New York State Office of Cannabis Management works through license approvals. It’s a process that Gov. Kathy Hochul called a “disaster”, now directing a full review of the agency using personnel from the Office of General Services. While over 500 licenses have been issued, only 87 are operational, far behind the 240 that Gov. Hochul herself had predicted would be open in calendar year 2023.
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Suits Jr. and his brother began talking about getting into medical marijuana about eight years ago, but realized they wouldn’t be able to fulfill the requirements to open that kind of dispensary. When the state legalized recreational use in 2021 – a piece of legislation that celebrated its third birthday at the end of March – Suits Jr.
