[#item_full_content] [[{“value”:”From a Co-op Rhody press release:
Co-op Rhody criticizes today’s preliminary injunction as the latest in a four-year pattern of delays that have benefited incumbent dispensaries while imposing serious financial harm on workers’ cooperative and social equity applicants who were required to invest heavily in the application process. We call on the Cannabis Control Commission to act immediately by issuing emergency regulations and setting a clear timeline that applicants, workers, investors, and cultivators can rely on.
Today, in response to the preliminary injunction issued by the United States District Court of Rhode Island in the case of Jensen v. Rhode Island Cannabis Control Commission, Co-op Rhody issues the following statement:
“For nearly four years, the CCC has delayed its obligation – and legislative mandate – to review and grant cannabis licenses to new retailers. This delay has permitted a group of seven operators to make extraordinary, nation-leading profits at rates substantially higher than most similar businesses across the country. Social equity and workers’ cooperative applicants have suffered because of the CCC’s stalling.
“Today’s court decision against the CCC further delays the licensing process. It was also entirely predictable – the plaintiff in this case has filed the same lawsuit against multiple other states- and, as the Court noted, the “resulting fall-out will be, to be blunt, self-inflicted [by the CCC].”
“Co-op Rhody is deeply concerned that the Court’s preliminary injunction and the failure of the CCC to prepare for it will further harm the social equity and workers’ cooperative applicants who cannot afford further delay, and will benefit incumbent retailers. We call on the CCC to use the powers it has available under the Rhode Island Cannabis Act to address the Court’s injunction, to stop delaying the licensing process, and to focus on ensuring real Rhode Islanders can benefit from the cannabis economy.
“The Rhode Island Cannabis Act, which legalized adult-use sales and mandated the release of 24 new retail licenses, passed in 2022, but today, eight existing dispensaries still maintain a monopoly on cannabis sales in the $120 million market. As new licenses continue to be delayed, Rhode Island’s incumbent operators are the nation’s most profitable cannabis retailers, and the State forgoes millions in new tax revenue (according to a Whitney Economics report, the tax revenue lost until new dispensaries open is estimated at $7.4 million in 2026 and will double in 2027).
“Applicants for new cannabis retail licenses were required to make significant upfront investments in order to complete the Commission’s incredibly burdensome application, which was due in December 2025. The application required proof of site control, zoning approval, and secured funding. Despite the high cost of entry, under-resourced groups of workers made the sacrifices necessary to prepare and submit qualified licenses for workers’ cooperative and social equity licenses.
“Now, an indefinite pause on the licensing process poses serious financial harm for applicants, who face compounding monthly costs just to remain candidates in a lottery with no guaranteed timeline.
“But the Commission can fix this today. R.I. Gen. Laws § 21-28.11-32 declares every provision of the Cannabis Act severable. Sections 21-28.11-5(a)(1) and 42-35-2.10 give the Commission rulemaking and emergency-rulemaking authority.
“We demand that the Cannabis Control Commission:
Announce within 48 hours whether it intends to appeal the ruling in Jensen v. R.I. Cannabis Control Commission — and if it does not, stipulate to a consent decree;
Publish emergency regulations within 30 days, removing the enjoined language and establishing interim application procedures consistent with the court’s ruling; and
Immediately begin processing applications from worker cooperatives and social-equity applicants under those interim procedures, on a schedule that credits the time and money they have already spent in good-faith reliance on the Commission’s rules.
“Other states have already taken similar approaches. New York narrowed a similar injunction and kept licensing (Variscite N.Y. Four, LLC v. N.Y. State Cannabis Bd., 152 F.4th 47 (2d Cir. 2025)). Maine amended its law after the First Circuit struck down its residency rule and kept licensing (Northeast Patients Group v. United Cannabis Patients & Caregivers of Maine, 45 F.4th 542 (1st Cir. 2022) — the same precedent Judge DuBose found controlling today). Both cases were decided well before the CCC locked the enjoined language into its final rules on May 1, 2025.
“The Commission was aware of the Northeast Patients Group case for nearly three years before it locked the enjoined language into its own regulations. It chose to ignore the warning. Applicants are paying for that choice in rent, fees, and lost years. The court did not mince words: the Commission “knowing[ly]” pressed ahead with an application process it had been warned was constitutionally defective, and “[t]he resulting fall-out will be, to be blunt, self-inflicted.”
“Today’s ruling is not a new crisis. It is the latest chapter in a four-year pattern of delay that has enriched a handful of incumbent retailers while freezing out workers’ cooperatives and social-equity applicants who relied on the law the General Assembly passed in May 2022.
“We cannot continue to delay the opportunity for market participation while a handful of incumbent operators benefit from artificial scarcity and less advantaged applicants suffer from costly delays. The CCC must do everything in its power to expedite the licensing process and set a firm lottery date in short order that applicants, workers, investors, and cultivators can depend on.”
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