New York Reserves First Retail Pot Licenses for Former Offenders

New York’s first retail licenses to sell recreational cannabis will go to applicants who were convicted of marijuana-related offenses before recreational pot was legalized, or whose relatives were found guilty of a crime connected to pot, according to regulations approved Thursday.

Big companies operating retail shops in other states will have to wait to compete for licenses to do business in New York; those regulations are still being written, according to the Office of Cannabis Management.

Thursday’s vote on the initial regulations cleared the way for potential pot entrepreneurs to submit applications beginning sometime next month. Ex-cons or their relatives ...