As readers of this column know, New York’s journey to bring its regulated adult-use cannabis market has been a tortured one. Nearly three years ago, on March 31, 2021, New York legalized revamped its medical program, and legalized adult-use cannabis to much fanfare with the passage of the Marijuana Taxation and Regulation Act (MRTA).

The MRTA was reflective of the broad coalition that was needed to pass it and contained both revenue generating and social equity components. Although, as we saw in litigation that marked most of 2023, that coalition began to fracture, in part due to policy choices made by the regulator.