Welcome back to Higher Law, our weekly briefing on all things cannabis. I'm Cheryl Miller, reporting for Law.com from Sacramento. You know fall is in the air when the promotions for pumpkin spice CBD start.

This week we're looking at:

  • Hundreds of early adult-use dispensary applications in NY.
  • A green light for NJ attorneys to use and invest in state-legal cannabis.
  • The new general counsel at Dutchie.
  • A new cannabis advisor at the FDA.

Thanks as always for reading. Higher Law will be on hiatus next week. But I still welcome your feedback and story ideas. Drop me a line at [email protected]. You can call me, too, at 916.448.2935. Follow me on Twitter: @capitalaccounts. See you back here on Oct. 13.

A view of New York City from the air. Photo: Ryland West/ALM

Hundreds Apply for First Adult-Use Dispensary Licenses in New York

The application period for those who want to be the first to legally sell recreational-use marijuana in New York closed on Monday. In the end, 903 would-be pot purveyors submitted initial paperwork by the deadline, according to the Office of Cannabis Management. That's six applications for every one conditional adult-use retail dispensary license expected to be made available.

Alexander Malyshev, a partner with Carter Ledyard, called the level of interest "historic and a reflection of the OCM's effort to make the initial process for social equity applicants as streamlined as possible."