Overview

• New York's Cannabis Control Board has approved a settlement to resolve lawsuits that have stalled the opening of recreational marijuana dispensaries in the state.
• The settlement still requires a judge's approval before it can take effect.
• The lawsuits were filed by a group of four military veterans and a coalition of large medical marijuana companies, challenging state rules that prioritized people with past drug convictions for the first dispensary licenses.
• More than 400 provisional retail licensees will be able to proceed with their stores if the settlement is approved.
• Regulators are also planning to issue more than 1,000 new licenses to grow, process, distribute or sell marijuana, in a bid to kickstart the market.