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What Is a CAURD Dispensary? | Smacked Village NYC

What Is a CAURD Dispensary? | Smacked Village NYC

What Is a CAURD Dispensary in New York?

Intro: Why you keep seeing “CAURD”

If you’ve been exploring New York’s legal weed scene, you’ve probably seen the term CAURD thrown around. This pops up news sites, on social media, or even on dispensary pages like ours.

Smacked Village is a NY-licensed CAURD dispensary (CAURD #23-000002), which means we were part of the first wave of legal adult-use shops in the state’s rollout. Smacked Village

This guide breaks down what CAURD actually means, who it was for, and how it shaped New York’s early dispensary landscape.

What does CAURD stand for?

CAURD stands for Conditional Adult-Use Retail Dispensary.

It was a special, one-time license created by New York’s Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) as the first adult-use retail license type after legalization. Office of Cannabis Management+1

A CAURD license allowed the holder to:

  • Operate a retail cannabis dispensary for adult-use (21+)

  • Sell regulated, tested cannabis products

  • Do so under a “conditional” license, with extra requirements and time limits while the full licensing system was being built out

Think of CAURD as New York’s “early access” license for adult-use dispensaries.

Why did New York create CAURD?

New York designed CAURD as a social equity program. It was meant to put people and communities harmed by past cannabis arrests at the front of the legal market. Office of Cannabis Management+1

To qualify, applicants generally needed:

  • To be “justice-involved”; Meaning they (or a close family member) had a past marijuana-related conviction in New York before March 31, 2021; and Office of Cannabis Management

  • To have real business experience: for example, owning a profitable business for at least two years; or

  • To be a qualifying nonprofit, serving communities impacted by the War on Drugs, with justice-involved leadership. Albany NY Official Website+1

On top of that, rules required justice-involved owners to hold majority ownership and control of the CAURD business, at least 51% ownership overall, and at least one justice-involved person holding 30% and sole control. Office of Cannabis Management+1

In plain language: CAURD was built so real people impacted by prohibition could own and control the first legal shops, not just big corporations.

What does “conditional” mean in CAURD?

The “C” in CAURD is Conditional.

“Conditional” meant:

  • The license was temporary and tied to specific rules and timelines while the state set up its full licensing system.

  • CAURD licensees had to meet extra conditions (like using certain state-backed locations or financing in many cases, and complying with detailed OCM rules).

  • The program was only open during a limited window (August–September 2022) and is now closed to new applicants. Vicente LLP+1

Today, New York issues standard Adult-Use Retail Dispensary licenses, and applications for CAURD are no longer open—but existing CAURD licensees (like us) continue to operate under their conditional licenses as the market transitions. Cova Software+1

CAURD vs a regular Adult-Use Retail Dispensary license

Here’s the quick comparison:

  • CAURD license

    • First license type launched after legalization

    • Reserved for justice-involved individuals and certain nonprofits

    • Conditional (special rules, time limits, and program structure)

    • Application window has closed

  • Adult-Use Retail Dispensary license (current standard)

    • Now the main way to open a dispensary in NY

    • Open to a wider range of applicants (with social equity priorities built into scoring)

    • Non-conditional license structure

    • Replaced CAURD for new applications Cova Software+1

For customers, the big thing to know is this: both license types are legal, regulated, and overseen by the state. CAURD just tells you that the shop was part of the original social equity rollout.

How CAURD shaped New York’s first legal dispensaries

Because CAURD was the first license, the first wave of state-licensed adult-use shops in New York were CAURD dispensaries.

That rollout included:

  • Stores operated by justice-involved entrepreneurs

  • Locations backed by a state-supported fund for build-outs and real estate DASNY

  • A lot of headline-making legal and political drama (lawsuits, pauses, and regulatory tweaks as the program evolved) Distru+1

Despite the bumps, CAURD dispensaries laid the groundwork for:

  • Safe, tested, taxed cannabis products

  • Community-rooted ownership

  • A legal alternative to the unlicensed “sticker” and smoke shops that popped up across the city

What a CAURD license means for you as a customer

When you shop at a CAURD dispensary like Smacked Village, here’s what that means in practice:

  • We’re state-licensed and regulated. Our license is issued by the NY Office of Cannabis Management, and we follow strict rules on testing, packaging, age checks, and more. Office of Cannabis Management

  • All products are lab-tested. You’re not guessing what’s in your flower, vapes, or edibles—everything comes through the legal supply chain.

  • Sales are taxed and tracked. Your purchase supports New York’s legal market, community reinvestment, and the shift away from criminalization.

  • You’re supporting a social equity story. CAURD was built to give justice-involved owners a real foothold in the new industry.

If you’re comparing shops in NYC, one simple question to ask is:

“Are you licensed by the New York Office of Cannabis Management?”

You can also use the state’s official dispensary locator to confirm which spots are legal. Cova Software

Smacked Village as a CAURD dispensary

Smacked Village is:

  • A NY-licensed CAURD dispensary (CAURD #23-000002)

  • Located at 144 Bleecker Street, in the heart of Greenwich Village Smacked Village+2Smacked Village+2

  • The first Black-owned, licensed cannabis shop in New York City, helping lead the city’s transition from prohibition to a regulated market Smacked Village+1

For you, that translates to:

  • Legal, lab-tested cannabis for 21+ adults

  • A welcoming, community-minded shop with staff who live and breathe New York

  • Options for pickup and Manhattan / Far Rockaway delivery (with minimums), depending on how you like to shop Smacked Village

How to check if a dispensary is CAURD and licensed

If you want to know whether a dispensary is legit:

  1. Look for the NY State license information on the website or in-store (often including a license type or number, like “CAURD #23-000002”). Smacked Village

  2. Use the OCM’s “Find a Dispensary” tool to verify the business name and address. Cova Software

  3. Be wary of spots that:

    • Can’t show you their license

    • Don’t appear on the state’s list

    • Sell products that don’t have proper NY packaging, labels, and testing info

Final thoughts: CAURD is a chapter in NY cannabis history

CAURD was created as a temporary, transitional license type, and the state is now focused on its standard Adult-Use Retail Dispensary licenses.

If you want to experience what a CAURD dispensary looks like in real life:

  • Visit us at 144 Bleecker St in the West Village, or

  • Order online for pickup or delivery in our service zones.

Either way, you’re supporting the legal, regulated market—and the communities CAURD was created to uplift.

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